Sticker Shocked By 5.50% 30yr Fixed Rate, Pre-approval Shopping?

[David Emerson]

Hey BP Community! I recently got a pre-approval back from a great mortgage lender but was a bit sticker shocked when it came back at 5.50%. I know rates have moved quick over the past few months and can vary amongst regions, but to go from 3.5% in late December to where it's at now is crazy to me. And I know they'll be moving higher from here.

With that said, I was told from a couple of people there's a certain period of time after you apply for a pre-approval where you can go and apply for other pre-approvals without the temporary negative hit to your credit from a hard inquiry. Is that true? If so, what's the length of time you can do that? I've heard 2 weeks and 1 month, from completely different sources. 

For extra context, I'm looking in the Southern MA area; 02601 zip code if we're being specific. 

I would like to keep the potential future business with the current mortgage lender, but if there is a large enough discrepancy in rates I may want to consider placing it elsewhere. I'm just trying to avoid too many negative hits to the credit if possible (not that I have bad credit, I just fixate on it like a nut job).

Thanks!