Refinance closing costs calculator
Every closing-cost line for your state and loan amount, and which of the three ways to pay them is cheapest for the years you plan to keep the loan.
Typical refinance closing costs by loan amount
Freddie Mac puts typical refinance costs at 3–6% of the loan principal. Here only two lines scale with the loan, origination and title. The rest are flat fees, so a bigger loan costs a smaller percentage. The last column is this calculator with national defaults and no state tax. A mortgage tax adds its rate on top, from 0.10% of the loan in Oklahoma to 0.80% in the New York City suburbs, and attorney states add about $400: an $850 attorney fee in place of the $450 escrow fee.
| Loan amount | At 3% | At 6% | This model, national defaults |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | $6,000 | $12,000 | $4,048 |
| $300,000 | $9,000 | $18,000 | $5,398 |
| $400,000 | $12,000 | $24,000 | $6,748 |
| $500,000 | $15,000 | $30,000 | $8,098 |
Model column: 1% origination, 0.35% title, $600 appraisal, $450 settlement (escrow) fee, $150 tax service, $100 recording, $48 flood and credit. Transfer tax $0, no mortgage tax, no attorney, no points. Prepaid interest and escrow account deposits not included.
How to lower your refinance closing costs
- Shop the lender fees first. Origination, underwriting and processing are the one group set by the lender alone. Loan Estimates for the same loan can differ on those lines, and a competing estimate is the strongest negotiating tool you have.
- Ask for the reissue rate on title. Title rate manuals often include a discount when the property already has a recent policy; the size of the discount and the age limit differ by insurer and state.
- Use a streamline program if you qualify. FHA Streamline and VA IRRRL skip the appraisal and most underwriting, and the VA funding fee drops to 0.5%. Both require that the refinance lowers your payment or moves you to a fixed rate.
- Skip points unless you will stay. A point costs 1% of the loan. Divide that cost by the monthly saving the lower rate buys: the result is the number of months before the point pays off, and if you leave sooner it is money lost.
- Close late in the month. Prepaid interest runs from closing day to the end of that month. On $325,000 at 6.25% a day of interest is about $56, so closing on the 27th instead of the 3rd cuts that line by about $1,300.
- Compare a lender credit against your stay. A no-closing-cost quote is cheapest for the first few years and most expensive over the full term. The table above shows the crossover month for your numbers.
- Do not pay for an appraisal until you have compared offers. The appraisal is ordered after you commit to a lender, and the fee is not refundable if the loan falls through.
How the estimate is built
Most calculators ask you to type in one closing-cost number. This one builds it. Pick your state and loan amount, and it estimates every line: what the lender charges, what third parties charge, and what the county and state collect. Then it puts the three ways of paying those costs side by side, so you can see which one is cheapest for the years you actually plan to keep the loan.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us. The calculator shares its cost table and payment math with the full refinance calculator, so the same state gives the same line items in both tools.
The sixteen lines
Each line is either a flat fee, a percentage of the new loan amount, or a state lookup:
- Origination fee: 1% of the loan. Lenders label this as origination, underwriting or processing; the total is what matters.
- Discount points: $0 unless you enter them. A point is 1% of the loan paid to lower the rate.
- Appraisal: $600 flat. FHA Streamline and VA IRRRL set it to $0 because those programs waive the appraisal.
- Title insurance and search: a HearthLoan estimate as a share of the loan amount, set per state; a refinance needs only the lender's policy. California uses a table of refinance rates filed with the Department of Insurance instead: $550 up to $250,000, $700 up to $500,000, $850 up to $750,000, $1,000 up to $1 million, $1,300 up to $1.5 million, $1,600 up to $2 million, plus $700 for each started million above that.
- Owner's title policy: $0 by default. Your existing owner's policy stays in force after a refinance, so a new one is rarely bought.
- Escrow / settlement fee: $450, the fee of the company that runs the closing. In California, Title Resources publishes a refinance escrow fee of $410 up to $250,000 and $450 above it (2026 rate manual); elsewhere $450 is an estimate. $0 in attorney states, where the attorney fee covers the closing.
- Tax service fee: $150 flat, the fee for the company that tracks your property tax payments for the lender.
- Recording fee: the state's base fee for recording a mortgage.
- State transfer tax: $0 by default. Deed transfer taxes apply when property changes owners; a refinance does not transfer the deed. Enter a figure only if your closing agent lists one.
- Mortgage recording tax: the state's rate times the full loan amount, as charged on a refinance with a new lender. New York, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Minnesota, Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma levy one; Georgia caps it at $25,000 and Tennessee excludes the first $2,000. In Florida, Georgia and New York (through a CEMA), refinancing with the lender that holds your current loan can limit the tax to new money; enter your own figure if that applies.
- Attorney fee: $850 in states where an attorney must conduct the closing, $0 elsewhere.
- Flood certification, credit report: $18 and $30 flat.
- Survey, other: $0 unless you enter them.
- FHA upfront MIP / VA funding fee: FHA charges 1.75% of the loan on any refinance (0.01% for Streamlines of loans endorsed on or before May 31, 2009). VA charges 0.5% on an IRRRL and 2.15% or 3.3% on a cash-out, first or subsequent use, with an exemption for veterans receiving disability compensation. Conventional loans have no program fee.
The three headline groups are this calculator's own split, not the Loan Estimate sections: lender fees (origination, points), third-party fees (appraisal, title, owner's policy, escrow, tax service, attorney, flood, credit, survey, other), and government and program (recording fee, transfer tax, mortgage tax, FHA or VA fee). On a Loan Estimate the FHA upfront premium and the VA funding fee appear in section B, with the other lender-required services.
Home value and LTV
The home value is optional and does not change any cost line. It drives the loan-to-value ratio shown under the loan amount and the default property tax in the prepaids block. Above 80% LTV a conventional refinance usually carries monthly mortgage insurance, which is a payment cost rather than a closing cost; the full calculator prices it.
Prepaids and escrow
These are shown separately from the fees because they are not costs of refinancing: you owe the interest, tax and insurance whether or not you refinance, and the old escrow account refunds its balance after payoff. Prepaid interest is the loan amount times the daily rate times the days entered (15 by default, half a month). Escrow deposits are the annual property tax and insurance divided by twelve and multiplied by the months entered (three and two by default). The property tax default is the state's effective rate times the home value, or times the loan divided by 0.75 when no home value is given; the insurance default is the state's typical premium. Together with the fees they make up the estimated cash to close.
Three ways to pay
The comparison tables run the same loan three times:
- Pay at closing: loan amount as entered, your rate, closing costs paid in cash.
- Roll into the loan: loan amount plus closing costs, your rate, nothing paid in cash.
- Lender credit: loan amount as entered, your rate plus the add-on, nothing paid in cash.
Each monthly payment uses the fixed-rate amortization formula:
M = P × [ r(1+r)n ] / [ (1+r)n − 1 ]
where P is the balance, r is the monthly rate and n is the number of months. The paid-out columns answer a plainer question: if you sell or refinance again after that many years, how much money will have left your pocket? They add the cash paid at closing, every payment made so far, and the balance still owed on the day you exit:
paid out = cash at closing + M × months kept + balance remaining
Comparing on that basis is fair to all three options. Rolling costs in looks free at closing but leaves a bigger balance to pay off; a lender credit looks free too but carries a higher payment every month. The full-term column is the same sum with the balance at zero. The verdict names the cheapest option for your stay and the month at which it overtakes the runner-up; the second table repeats the sum at one, two, five and ten years.
What is left out on purpose
- County and city taxes. The state table carries the state-level rate only. Where local governments add their own recording tax, the tool says so under the state selector.
- Monthly mortgage insurance. Conventional PMI above 80% LTV and the FHA annual premium are payment costs, not closing costs. The full calculator handles them.
- Loan-size effects on the rolled-in scenario. Adding costs to the balance would nudge the percentage-based lines up by a few dollars; we hold them fixed to keep the three scenarios comparable.
These are estimates for education, not a quote or personalized advice. Verify every figure against your Loan Estimate. See our editorial policy and the site methodology for the sources behind the state table.
Common questions
How much does it cost to refinance a mortgage?
Freddie Mac puts typical refinance costs at 3–6% of the loan principal. Two lines move most from state to state: title insurance, and the tax a few states charge on the recorded mortgage. On a $325,000 loan in California, the calculator's default state, the model gives $5,338 before prepaids; states with a mortgage tax come out higher.
Why are refinance closing costs so high?
Because a refinance is a brand-new loan, and every party that touched the first one gets paid again: the lender for underwriting, a title company for a new search and policy, an appraiser, the county for recording, and in some states the state itself through a mortgage tax. None of those fees care that you already own the house. The parts you can move are the lender fees and, with a reissue discount, the title policy.
Do I pay a transfer tax when I refinance?
Usually not. Deed transfer taxes are charged when ownership changes hands, and a refinance records a new mortgage, not a new deed. What some states do charge on a refinance with a new lender is a tax on the new mortgage: New York, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Minnesota, Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The calculator applies the state rate and leaves the transfer-tax line at zero unless you enter a figure.
Do I need an appraisal to refinance?
On a conventional refinance, usually yes, though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac grant appraisal waivers on some low-LTV loans when their automated valuation is confident. FHA Streamline and VA IRRRL refinances skip the appraisal by design; pick those programs in the calculator and the appraisal line drops to $0. An appraisal typically runs $500–$800 and is paid whether or not the loan closes.
What is a no-closing-cost refinance?
The lender pays your closing costs in exchange for a higher interest rate, typically a quarter to three-quarters of a point. You skip the upfront bill and pay for it through the payment every month. It is the cheapest option if you expect to sell or refinance again within a few years, and the most expensive one if you keep the loan for its full term.
Is it a mistake to roll closing costs into the loan?
Not by itself. Rolling costs in keeps your rate and adds the fees to the balance, so you pay interest on them for the life of the loan. Over a full 30-year term that interest usually exceeds the fees themselves. The comparison tables show the cost of each way of paying at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years for your numbers.
Why are prepaid interest, taxes and insurance shown separately?
Those are prepaids and escrow deposits, not fees. You would pay the interest, property tax and insurance premium whether or not you refinanced; the closing just collects some of it up front. The calculator adds them to the fees as estimated cash to close, but keeps them out of the closing-cost total so the three ways of paying stay comparable. A Loan Estimate counts them in Total Closing Costs (section J), which is one reason two quotes for the same loan can look thousands of dollars apart.
Will I get my escrow balance back?
Yes. When the old loan is paid off, the old servicer must return whatever sits in your escrow account, normally within 30 days of payoff. That refund usually covers most of the deposit the new lender collects, so the escrow lines in the cash-to-close figure are a timing gap, not a cost. Some servicers let you transfer the balance instead of refunding it; ask before closing.
Which closing costs can I negotiate?
Lender fees are the negotiable part: origination, underwriting, processing and discount points. Title insurance can be shopped in most states and is often discounted for a recent policy on the same property. Government recording fees and taxes are fixed, and the appraisal fee is set by the appraiser rather than the lender.
How accurate is the state-by-state estimate?
It is a modeled budget figure, not a quote. Recording fees, mortgage taxes and the attorney requirement come from a per-state table built from state revenue departments and bar rules. Title is a HearthLoan estimate as a share of the loan, except in California, where it follows rates filed by title insurers. Lender charges use typical pricing. Counties and cities can add their own recording taxes. Once you have a Loan Estimate, type its line items into the itemized section and the totals update.
Is the refinance worth those costs?
The breakeven calculator turns your closing-cost total and monthly savings into a single number: the month the refinance pays for itself.