To read a mortgage rate sheet, find the grid for your loan tier, locate the interest rate you’re considering, and read across to the price shown as a number relative to 100.000; then subtract the loan-level price adjustments that apply to your credit score, LTV, property type, and loan purpose. Whatever’s left tells you, in percent of the loan amount, whether you owe discount points at closing or receive a lender credit. The rest is knowing which numbers to pull and how they stack.
The Vocabulary on the Sheet
Par is the interest rate where nothing changes hands beyond principal. On the sheet, par is a price of 100.000. Prices above 100 mean the lender pays you a credit; prices below 100 mean you owe discount points.
Basis points are the unit for everything on the page. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percent, so 100 bps equals 1% of your loan amount. A pricing adjustment of -50 bps adds 0.50% to your cost.
Discount points are what you pay up front at closing to buy a lower rate. Lender credits are the reverse: you accept a higher rate, and the lender covers some of your closing costs. Both live inside the prices printed on the grid.
Reading the Pricing Grid
Interest rates run down the left column in eighths of a percent (6.500%, 6.625%, 6.750%, and so on). Columns to the right show the price at each rate for different lock periods. The price is a number relative to 100.000.
A price of 101.250 means a credit of 1.250% of the loan amount. A price of 98.500 means you owe 1.500% in discount points. On a $400,000 loan, a price of 99.250 costs you 0.750%, or $3,000, at closing. A price of 100.500 gives you back 0.500%, or $2,000, toward costs.
That’s the whole mechanism. Everything else on the sheet either tells you which grid to use or adjusts the base price you just found.
Find Your Tier Before You Read Any Number
Rate sheets split products by loan amount, and the same interest rate prices differently across tiers. For 2026, the baseline conforming limit on a one-unit property is $832,750 in most of the country, with a ceiling of $1,249,125 in designated high-cost areas.{{{1}}} Loans at or under the baseline get the best pricing.
High-balance loans sit between the baseline and the high-cost ceiling and typically price 25 to 50 basis points worse than standard conforming. Jumbo loans exceed the ceiling and appear on a separate sheet with their own grid, higher rates, and different underwriting rules. Reading the wrong tier’s grid gives you the wrong number, so start there.
Loan-Level Price Adjustments
The base price assumes an ideal borrower. Your real price gets adjusted through Loan-Level Price Adjustments, which the Federal Housing Finance Agency sets for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.{{{2}}} LLPAs stack on top of each other, so several small ones can add up to a large hit.
Credit Score and LTV
Credit score and loan-to-value ratio are the two biggest LLPA drivers, and they interact. Under Fannie Mae’s January 2026 LLPA matrix, a borrower with a 780 or higher credit score at 75.01% to 80% LTV faces an adjustment of just 0.375%. At the same LTV with a score in the 680–699 range, that jumps to 1.750%.{{{3}}} The difference is 1.375%, or $5,500 on a $400,000 loan.
Tier boundaries matter. A score of 680 versus 679, or an LTV of 79.5% versus 80.1%, can push you into a different cell of the matrix. Always check exactly which bucket you land in.
Property Type
Condominiums carry an LLPA of 0.125% at lower LTVs, rising to 0.750% once LTV exceeds 75%, on top of any credit/LTV adjustment.{{{4}}} A single-family detached primary home has no property-type adjustment, which is why that combination gets the cleanest pricing.
Occupancy
Investment properties get hit hard: adjustments range from 1.125% to over 4% depending on LTV.{{{5}}} Second homes carry similar surcharges. If you’re not living in the property, expect it to show up in the price.
Loan Purpose
Cash-out refinances have their own LLPA grid, and it’s steeper than the purchase grid. A borrower with a 740–759 score at 75.01–80% LTV pays 0.875% on a purchase but 2.375% on a cash-out refinance.{{{6}}} Rate-and-term refinances land closer to purchase pricing but still carry modest adjustments. Confirm you’re reading the section that matches your loan purpose.
FHA and VA Sections Work Differently
Government-backed loans sit on their own sections of the sheet and don’t follow the Fannie/Freddie LLPA structure. A borrower with a lower credit score often sees noticeably better pricing on FHA or VA than on conventional because the risk-based stacking isn’t there.
FHA carries an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 1.75% of the base loan amount, plus an annual premium of 0.85% for most borrowers with an LTV above 95% on a 30-year term.{{{8}}} These costs sit outside the rate sheet price but belong in any total-cost comparison. VA replaces mortgage insurance with a funding fee: 2.15% for first-time users putting less than 5% down, and 3.30% for subsequent users at the same down payment.{{{9}}} Borrowers with service-connected disabilities are exempt.
Because these grids don’t carry credit-score LLPAs, the price you read on the sheet is closer to the price you actually pay.
Lock Periods and Extensions
Every rate sheet prices its products across multiple lock periods, commonly 15, 30, 45, and 60 days. The lock is how long the lender guarantees the price while you close. Longer locks cost more because the lender takes on more market risk; a 60-day lock might run 0.125 to 0.250 points worse than a 30-day lock at the same rate.
Sheets carry a cutoff time, usually midday, after which the prices expire. If the market moves before that cutoff, the lender may reprice. Once you’re locked, market swings no longer affect you for the duration of the lock.
If closing slips past expiration, you’ll need an extension. Extensions typically cost 0.125% to 0.375% of the loan amount per week, though some lenders use flat fees. In a volatile market, extensions aren’t guaranteed and relocking at current prices may be your only option. A few days of buffer built into the initial lock is usually cheaper than paying to extend.
Putting It Together: A Worked Example
Take a $400,000 conventional purchase on a condominium, credit score 710, LTV 78%, using 2026 figures.
Start with the base price. Say the 30-day lock at 6.750% shows a base price of 100.500.
Add up the LLPAs that apply:
- Credit score 700–719 at 75.01–80% LTV: 1.375%
- Condo at LTV above 75%: 0.750%
- Total: 2.125%
Subtract from the base price: 100.500 − 2.125 = 98.375. Below 100 means you owe the difference. The cost is 100.000 − 98.375 = 1.625% of the loan, or $6,500 due at closing for that rate.{{{10}}}
Move up the grid to a higher rate where the base price is 102.000, and the adjusted price becomes 99.875. Cost drops to 0.125%, or $500. Move up again to a base price of 103.000, and the adjusted price is 100.875, which is a lender credit of 0.875%, or $3,500 back at closing. That’s the tradeoff you’re navigating on every row: lower rate with cash out of pocket, or higher rate with money back.
Wholesale Pricing vs. the Rate You’re Quoted
Rate sheets from wholesale lenders show pricing before the broker or loan officer adds compensation. A broker working from a wholesale sheet typically adds 0.500% to 2.750% to the price to cover operating costs and profit. If the sheet shows 102.000 at a given rate and the broker’s compensation is 2.000%, the broker locks at 102.000, keeps 2.000% as pay, and hands you the remainder, effectively par.
This is why two borrowers with identical files can hear different quotes from different loan officers. The underlying wholesale pricing is the same; the margin on top varies. When a broker says the rate is 6.750% at par, they’ve absorbed the credit above 100.000 as their compensation and left you breaking even.
Retail lenders (banks and direct lenders funding their own loans) don’t show you a wholesale sheet at all. Their pricing works similarly, but the margin is baked into the quoted rate. Either way, the Loan Estimate you receive within three business days of application has to disclose total loan costs, origination charges, and any points or credits.{{{11}}} If the numbers on your disclosures don’t match what a rate sheet would produce for your profile, that’s worth questioning.