Buyers: The best way to avoid creeping interest rates!

With interest rates creeping on a weekly basis, I went in search of solutions for our buyer clients – and found an amazing option from my friend, Mark Johnson with Citizens Bank. We chatted about a new program he is offering called “Lock and Shop,” and I was blown away! Historically, buyers are only able to lock in a rate once they have found a property, which is difficult to do in this current crazy market! With Lock and Shop, buyers are able to lock in their rate before finding a home, and then shopping with a locked rate for the next month!

Lock and Shop overview

Lock and Shop basically takes a 90 day rate lock and breaks it up into two parts. The first part, which lasts 30 days, is initiated by what looks and feels like the pre-approval process – just a W2 and paystub required. From there, buyers now have a locked in rate and up to 30 days to find a home. Within the 30 day window, an address is tied to the loan and it then proceeds normally into underwriting and closes within 60 days.

There are no fees or payments required upfront, so if by chance someone doesn’t find a home in the 30 day window, they don’t lose anything. Plus, Lock and Shop works with any loan product, so there are endless options.

What are the advantages?

According to Mark, the real estate market hasn’t seen this level of volatility in 8-9 years, so Lock and Shop provides buyers the peace of mind that they are getting the best possible rate right away versus waiting until they are under contract. With home buying being especially competitive right now, Lock and Shop takes one big stressor off the table.

Another big advantage is that when buyers go through the upfront pre-approval process for Lock and Shop, instead of receiving a pre-approval letter, they actually get a Loan Commitment Letter. This is advantageous because a Loan Commitment letter will make an offer to a seller that much stronger and help a buyer win in a multiple offer situation – one of the hardest/most common obstacles in today’s market.

And lastly, though we are in a rising rate environment according to Mark, if rates do end up decreasing, there is an option to relock at the lower rate.

For more information, please reach out and we are happy to introduce you to Mark and his team!