We must have your loan application before we can lock your rate!!! Your loan application can be submitted online, if you haven't done so already. This is required prior to locking your rate since most loans are approved and locked online.

The interest rate quoted to you on your Good Faith Estimate is SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL LOCKED. You must call us to lock your rate. Call toll free at 888-623-7083 or 259-7788 in the Austin area. Our office hours are 9am to 5:30pm M-F.

Email lock requests are accepted, but, cannot be guaranteed. After hours and on weekends - Leave a voice mail or email us. We will do our best to secure your rate for you. (Some loans can be locked at night and on weekends and others cannot.)

We may have sent you several good faith estimates with different rates. Be sure to tell us which rate you want to lock in.

Our wholesale lenders issue new rates every morning, usually between 9-10am, excluding holidays and weekends. These rates can change at any time during the day depending on how volatile the financial markets (bonds & mortgage backed securities) are that day. We have seen rates change as many as 5 times during one day, but this is very rare. One or two changes is the most we would normally see on a volatile day, but this is why it is so important to lock your rate right away.

The other side to that is; What if rates improve after I lock? This will depend on what type of loan we are using and how the wholesale lender treats rate float downs. Some will lower your rate one time for a cost of about 0.375% in points. If you are concerned that rates have dropped since you locked, call or email us and we will let you know what we can do for you. Many times we are already working on getting your rate reduced, but don't hesitate to contact us about it.

Why is the rate or points on my Good Faith Estimate different from the rate I see on your web site? All interest rates are associated with points, either positive(cost) or negative(premium). You will notice on the rates displayed on our web pages that rates are quoted for a specific loan amount and that some of the points are positive and some are negative.
For example, let's say a 30 year VA loan is at 5.5% with 1.000% under Pts. Our rates for VA loans are based on a $150,000 loan amount. The cost to you is 1% of $150,000 or $1500. If it was -1.000% it would be a premium or credit to you of $1500. This would be used to lower your closing costs and prepaids by $1500.

If your loan amount is only $100,000, 1.000% would only be $1000 to us. We would have to add 0.5% to your origination\points to get the same amount, $1500. If your loan amount is $200,000, we would decrease your origination\points.

Other factors can also affect your rate and points. Some of the things wholesale lenders add points for are.

• Smaller loan amounts
• Lower credit scores
• Specialty loan programs, i.e., zero down conventional loans, stated income loans, no ratio loans, investment properties, etc.