A rate cut that large usually means the first quote was above the market to begin with. The value of a mortgage in points is significant. A roughly four-point swing, about what moving from an illustrative 7.5% down to an illustrative 6.5% can represent, is real money to whoever holds the loan. On a $500,000 loan, four points is about $20,000. On a $1 million loan, about $40,000. No lender simply eats a difference that size because a borrower asks. One likely explanation: the original quote was set high on purpose. A lender might quote conservatively to make sure you still qualify even if rates drift up before closing, then bring the rate down to the true market once you were locked in and shopping. That is a very different story from four points of genuine profit sitting in the loan, waiting to be given away. Even in a legitimate case, where 7.5% truly was the market and shopping got you matched down to 6.5%, the concession does not come out of some huge margin, because a margin that size does not exist across the full chain from lender to investor. It means the first number was above market. The lesson works for any borrower: shopping a real, same-day quote against your lender is exactly how you find out whether a rate was competitive.