According to Duane Buziak, the questions you should ask a mortgage lender before locking a rate fall into four groups: the lock terms, the full cost of the loan, what could change the price, and who is actually behind the quote. A rate on its own tells you very little. The same 6.00% can come with a lock that expires too early, a fee that surprises you at closing, or a price that moves the moment your appraisal comes back. Mortgage Rate Hawk by Duane Buziak works on the idea that “We Don’t Just Look. We Hunt.” The questions below are how a hunter turns a number into an offer you can actually compare. Watch. Compare. Save.
Duane Buziak Explains What a Rate Lock Actually Promises
A rate lock is a lender’s commitment to hold a specific interest rate and price (the points or credits attached to it) for a set number of days. The lock period is usually 30, 45, or 60 days, and longer periods often cost more. Floating means you have not locked, so your rate can rise or fall with the market until you do. The CFPB’s rate lock guidance covers the basics in plain language.
The commitment is conditional. It holds only while the loan stays as quoted: the same program, loan amount, occupancy, property, and application details. If any of these change, the lender can reprice the loan:
- A credit score that drops between quote and closing
- Income or employment details that don’t match what you stated
- An appraisal that comes in low, forcing a different loan amount or loan-to-value ratio
- A switch from primary residence to second home or investment property
A lock is also not a loan approval. You can hold a locked rate and still be denied if underwriting finds a problem. Locking protects the price, not the outcome.
The most common misconception is that a quoted rate, or even a Loan Estimate, is a locked rate. A lender can email you a number, show it on a website, or put it on a Loan Estimate without having locked anything. The document should say whether the rate is locked and when the lock began. So the first question is a simple one: “Is this quote locked, and since when?” If the answer is no, the number you are looking at can change by tomorrow morning.
Which Questions Should I Ask a Mortgage Lender Before Locking? Duane Buziak’s Lock Terms Checklist
Duane Buziak teaches borrowers to ask these before saying “lock it.” Each one has a reason behind it.
- How long is the lock, and does it cover my closing date plus a buffer? Purchase closings slip because of appraisals, title work, and underwriting conditions. If your contract closes in 38 days, a 30-day lock is a problem and a 45-day lock leaves almost no cushion. Ask for a period that covers the contract date plus about a week or two.
- What does an extension cost, in points or dollars per day? Extension pricing varies widely. Get the formula in writing now, because you will have no leverage on the day you need it.
- Is there a lock fee, is it refundable, and what happens if I cancel or the deal falls through? Some lenders lock at no charge. Others charge a fee or build the cost into the rate. If you walk away from a purchase, you want to know whether any money is lost.
- Is there a float-down option, and what are its conditions and cost? A float-down lets you take a lower rate if the market drops after you lock. Many are available only once, only if rates fall by a minimum amount, and sometimes for a fee. Ask for the trigger, the cost, and the process.
- Who is responsible for delays, and what happens if the lock expires before closing? If the delay came from the lender’s underwriting, a fair lender should cover the extension. If it came from a late appraisal or your own paperwork, the cost may fall on you. Ask who pays in each case, and ask whether the expired lock reprices to the current market or to the original rate plus a fee.
If a lender can’t answer these cleanly in a phone call, that tells you how the lock will be handled when something goes wrong. A clear answer, ideally followed by an email confirming it, is the standard to hold anyone to.
Cost Questions: What the Rate Doesn’t Show
The lowest rate is not always the cheapest loan. A rate is one input. Points, credits, fees, and insurance decide what the loan costs.
Ask for the APR, and for the points or credits inside the quoted rate. The annual percentage rate folds certain fees into a yearly cost, so it helps for comparing loans of the same type. Discount points are prepaid interest that buy a lower rate. Lender credits do the reverse: you accept a higher rate and the lender offsets some closing costs. Then ask for the same loan at par pricing, meaning the rate at which you pay no points and receive no credit. Par is the neutral baseline that lets you compare lenders fairly, because it strips out each lender’s choice of how to dress up the rate.
Ask which closing costs the lender controls. Lender fees, origination charges, and points are the lender’s side. Appraisal, title insurance, recording, and transfer taxes are mostly third-party or government charges. On the Loan Estimate, these sit in the closing cost breakdown on page 2, and the CFPB’s Loan Estimate explainer walks through each section. Compare the lender-controlled lines first, since those are the ones that differ by lender.
Ask about mortgage insurance. On an FHA loan, expect an upfront mortgage insurance premium plus an annual premium, and ask how long the annual premium lasts, since for many borrowers it does not drop off. Conventional loans with less than 20% down carry private mortgage insurance, which can be removed once you reach the required equity. Current FHA premium schedules are published by HUD and change by mortgagee letter, so confirm the figures that apply as of 2026 rather than relying on a quote from memory.
Ask about no-out-of-pocket structures. Some borrowers can finance a loan with no-out-of-pocket closing options, where lender credits cover costs. It works, but the tradeoff is a higher rate for the life of the loan. Ask what rate you would get with and without credits and decide with both numbers in front of you.
Ask whether there is a prepayment penalty. Most conventional and FHA purchase loans do not carry one, but the answer should be a clear no, in writing.
Questions About Who Is Pricing Your Loan
The next layer is who stands behind the number. A retail lender or direct lender sells you its own products and prices from its own rate sheet. A mortgage broker is licensed to place your loan with wholesale lenders, which means a broker can check multiple investors’ pricing for the same file. Neither model is automatically cheaper, so ask two things: “Do you work with one lender or several?” and “How are you paid?”
That second question matters. Compensation can be paid by the lender, built into the rate, or paid by the borrower directly. Any loan originator should be able to tell you which structure applies and show the amount on the Loan Estimate. If the answer is vague, treat that as information.
Duane Buziak, who has been originating since 2014, works as a broker, and that is the hunt in practice: he tracks wholesale pricing and compares it rather than reading one rate sheet. His access includes PowerTPO, the wholesale subsidiary of Lower LLC, which means loans can run through the same underwriters without a retail markup layered on top. That is a statement about structure, not a promise of a lower rate on any given day. Lower has real strengths, including a polished digital application and transparent pricing, and a borrower who values that experience should weigh it honestly.
Large national lenders deserve the same fair read. Rocket and Movement offer streamlined digital processes, and Veterans United is known for its focus on VA lending. Whether any of them wins on your file comes down to the numbers on paper: the rate, the points, the fees, and the lock terms. Get each in writing and let the comparison decide.
Comparing Lock Quotes Side by Side
Quotes only compare if they are built the same way. Ask every lender for a quote on the same day, since rates move daily and sometimes within the day. Use the same loan program, the same loan amount and down payment, the same credit assumptions, and the same lock period. Change one of these and you are no longer comparing prices, you are comparing guesses.
Fill in a grid like this for each lender, using figures from the Loan Estimate or written quote:
| Item | Lender A | Lender B | Lender C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest rate | |||
| APR | |||
| Points or lender credits | |||
| Lender fees (origination, underwriting) | |||
| Lock period (days) | |||
| Lock fee | |||
| Extension cost | |||
| Float-down option and cost | |||
| Estimated cash to close |
To pull matching figures from a Loan Estimate, take the rate, points, and lender fees from page 1 and the origination charges in section A on page 2. Cash to close appears on page 1 and is detailed on page 2. Section A is the lender-controlled part, so compare it line by line.
On credit, ask each lender whether it can start with a soft pull. Duane Buziak offers a free no-touch credit check, so you can compare without a hit to your score. When hard inquiries do happen, scoring models generally treat multiple mortgage inquiries within a short window as one for scoring purposes, but the length of that window varies by model. The CFPB has consumer guidance on shopping for a mortgage, and it is worth checking before you let several lenders pull credit.
A Worked Example: What a Missed Question Costs
This is a hypothetical illustration with made-up rates, not current market rates or an offer. Suppose a buyer in Georgia is purchasing a $400,000 home with 5% down ($20,000) and a $380,000 conventional loan on a 30-year fixed term. That loan sits well under the 2026 conforming limit, which FHFA set at $832,750 for a one-unit property in most counties (confirm at FHFA.gov), and it follows Fannie Mae’s conventional guidelines, including mortgage insurance at 95% loan-to-value.
The two quotes
- Quote 1: 6.00% with 1 point paid ($3,800). Principal and interest: $2,278.29 per month.
- Quote 2: 6.25% with a 0.5% lender credit ($1,900 back). Principal and interest: $2,339.72 per month.
Both payments come from the standard amortization formula, payment = L Ć r Ć· (1 ā (1 + r)ān), with monthly rate r and 360 payments. Quote 1 costs $5,700 more upfront ($3,800 paid plus the $1,900 credit forgone), and saves $61.43 per month. Dividing $5,700 by $61.43 gives a breakeven of about 93 months, or just under eight years. A buyer who expects to sell or refinance in five years comes out ahead with Quote 2. A buyer staying ten years comes out ahead with Quote 1. Without asking about points and credits, the buyer would never see this tradeoff.
The extension scenario
Now suppose the closing runs 15 days past a 45-day lock. If the lender charges 0.02% of the loan per day ($76), the 15-day extension costs $1,140. If a 60-day lock instead cost an extra 0.125% of the loan ($475) upfront, the longer lock would have saved $665. If the closing did not slip, the buyer would have paid $475 for nothing. The point is not that longer is always better. It is to ask both prices before choosing.
Duane Buziak’s Rule: Never Lock a Quote You Can’t Compare
The right questions turn a rate quote into an offer you can weigh against another. Get the lock terms in writing, get the par rate, see the lender-controlled fees, know who is paid and how, and compare quotes pulled the same day on the same loan. If a number can’t survive those questions, it was never the lowest, just the loudest.
Your dream home is waiting, so don’t let the mortgage process hold you back. Get your free rate comparison and personalized loan match today, with same-day expert guidance to help you find the right path forward, whether you’re a first-time buyer or ready to refinance. Call Duane Buziak at Mortgage Rate Hawk by Duane Buziak at 804-212-8663 for a same-day return call and a free no-touch credit check.
