Closing on first property - Rate lock/lending question

[Daljit S.]

Hi BP,

I'm in the process of closing on first property, a 2-family house hack in Union city, NJ. I was waiting on the Certificate of Occupancy and Smoke Cert before scheduling a closing date.

Towards the beginning of November, my loan officer recommended locking in a rate, I decided to wait because we were not sure when the closing date would be because we were waiting on the Certificate of Occupancy and Smoke Cert. I wanted to avoid paying any rate lock extension fee's in the event that it could take more than 30-45 days to get the Certs. At this time loan officer was able to lock in a rate around 3.1-3.2%.

A few weeks have gone by and my agent has told me that we've gotten the Certs and can schedule the closing date. I updated my lender. However, now, the rate that I will be receiving is around 3.625%. I'm a bit bummed because I could have locked a lower rate for 45 days in the beginning of November.

What can I do to possibly get a lower rate? It is possible to negotiate with the lender if I have another lender that can provide a lower rate? or am I stuck with the 3.6% rate? The 3.6% rate would add an extra $300 to my monthly payment and make this deal less ideal that what it initially was.

Thanks in advance!