When you're promised a "rate lock" from the lender, it means that you are guaranteed to keep a set interest rate for a determined period for your application process. This ensures that your interest rate cannot go up during the application process.
While there may be a choice of rate lock periods (from 15 to 60 days), the extended ones are usually more expensive. The lender may agree to hold an interest rate and points for a longer period, say 60 days, but in exchange, the rate (and sometimes points) will be higher than with a rate lock of fewer days.
In addition to going with the shorter lock period, there are several ways you can attain the best rate. The larger down payment you can make, the better your interest rate will be, because you will have more equity from the start. You might opt to pay points to lower your rate over the loan term, meaning you pay more initially. To many people, this makes financial sense..
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