Closing costs to count

Put these in the calculator

These are true costs of doing the refinance — money you would not spend if you kept the current loan.

Item	What it is
Origination / underwriting	Lender charges to make the loan. Sometimes listed as a percentage of the balance.
Discount points	Prepaid interest to buy a lower rate. Include the dollar amount you actually pay.
Appraisal	Third-party opinion of value. Common on cash-out and many rate-and-term loans.
Credit report, flood cert, tax service	Small fixed items. Still add them up.
Title search and lender’s title insurance	Protects the new lender. Owner’s title is a separate choice.
Escrow / settlement fee	The company that closes and records the loan.
Recording and transfer	County and state charges. Some states add mortgage or intangibles tax.
Prepaid daily interest	Interest from funding to the first payment date. Include it if you will write a check for it.

Usually leave these out of break-even

• Escrow cushion and prepaid taxes/insurance. You still owe those bills. Moving money into a new escrow is not a fee for the privilege of refinancing in the same way origination is.
• Refunds from the old escrow. That money was already yours. Do not subtract it to make break-even look prettier unless you also counted the new escrow deposit.
• Optional owner’s title if you already have a policy and are not required to buy a new one.

How much is typical?

A working range for many US rate-and-term refinances is about 2% to 5% of the loan amount, with a wide spread by state, loan size, and how many points you buy. A $285,000 loan might see $4,000–$10,000 in true refinance costs. Cash-out, jumbo, and condo loans can run higher.

Lender credits can lower cash to close by raising the rate. If you take a credit, use the higher rate in the “new rate” box and a lower closing-cost number — do not model the cheap rate and the credit at the same time.

A practical way to fill the box

1. Open Loan Estimate section A (origination) and B (services you cannot shop).
2. Add shoppable title and settlement from section C.
3. Add recording and transfer from section E if you will pay them.
4. Add points from section A if you are buying the rate down.
5. Skip prepaid escrow in section F unless you want a cash-to-close view, not a break-even view.

Then paste the total into the calculator. If two lenders quote different fees, run both. The cheaper payment is not always the cheaper refinance.