New construction rate lock

[Lynnow]

I have posted So many questions lol I'm thankful for this forum. 

My next question is when were you able to lock your rate for your new construction home? How far in advance? Our home would not be done until the end of May. What were the requirements for locking your rate?

We are going through the desktop underwriting for preapproval today. 

thanks again !!  

[Anonymous]

@Lynnow 

We received our rate lock about 45 days before closing. We had a tentative loan agreement about two months ahead of time but they sent us the lock in a separate document a few weeks later. 

[peter1974]

We just locked a few weeks ago at 45 days out.

[Anonymous]

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@Lynnow wrote:

I have posted So many questions lol I'm thankful for this forum. 

My next question is when were you able to lock your rate for your new construction home? How far in advance? Our home would not be done until the end of May. What were the requirements for locking your rate?

We are going through the desktop underwriting for preapproval today. 

thanks again !!  

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Just so you know if your home isn't done until May that builder lender is going to put you through approval process again. You can't lock until at least 45-30 days out. 

[MauiMan85297]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Lynnow wrote:

I have posted So many questions lol I'm thankful for this forum. 

My next question is when were you able to lock your rate for your new construction home? How far in advance? Our home would not be done until the end of May. What were the requirements for locking your rate?

We are going through the desktop underwriting for preapproval today. 

thanks again !!  

---

Just so you know if your home isn't done until May that builder lender is going to put you through approval process again. You can't lock until at least 45-30 days out. 

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This statement is not true, a lot of companies do 60 day locks (like we do) but others will do 90 days and possibly longer but this will get quite expensive.

[Lynnow]

Are you able to give estimates on how expensive? My husband would probably be willing to pay depending ...

thank you

[brk1971]

My closing date is early March on my new construction.

I applied with three lenders - the builder's, PenFed, and Navy Federal.

I locked with PenFed (for about 1/3 of the negative points - still getting rebated points) for 180 days. The fee was 1/8 point (certainly not "very expensive" in the context of the economy improving and the rates fluctuating).

I then got back Navy's match of PenFed (same rate and rebate, but without PMI). I locked it for 120 days (mid-March). Again, 1/8 point deducted from my points rebate.

The builder's lender won't go beyond 60 days for a rate lock, even with their Builder Forward Commitment funds.

Bottom line = lots of generalizations in the answers here that may not apply to your situation. Check with your preferred lender and see where their costs / caps are.