Refinancing your mortgage can be a smart financial move, potentially lowering your interest rate, reducing your monthly payments, or allowing you to tap into your home's equity. However, like any mortgage transaction, refinancing comes with closing costs. These are fees and expenses paid at the end of the loan process. Understanding these costs is crucial to determining if refinancing is truly beneficial for your financial situation.
Our Refinancing Closing Cost Calculator is designed to help you estimate these expenses. By inputting details about your current and new loan amounts, along with common closing cost fees, you can get a clearer picture of the upfront investment required.
Common Closing Costs in Refinancing:
Loan Application Fee: A fee charged by the lender to process your loan application.
Appraisal Fee: Covers the cost of an appraisal to determine the current market value of your home, which the lender uses to assess risk.
Credit Report Fee: Pays for the cost of obtaining your credit report and score.
Lender Origination Fee: This fee compensates the lender for processing and underwriting the loan. It's often expressed as a percentage of the loan amount (e.g., 1%).
Title Search and Title Insurance: Ensures clear ownership of the property and protects the lender (and sometimes the borrower) against future claims on the title.
Recording Fees: Charged by local government (county or city) to record the new mortgage deed and related documents in public records.
Attorney Fees: Some states require an attorney to be present at closing or to review documents.
Settlement/Escrow Fee: Paid to the title company or escrow agent for managing the closing process.
Miscellaneous Fees: These can include courier fees, wire transfer fees, notary fees, etc.
How the Calculator Works:
The calculator takes your input for each fee. For percentage-based fees like the lender origination fee, it calculates the cost based on the New Loan Amount. All other fees are added as direct dollar amounts. The total of all these individual costs is summed up to provide your estimated total closing costs.
Formula: Total Closing Costs = Appraisal Fee + Title Insurance + (New Loan Amount * Origination Fee %) + Credit Report Fee + Recording Fees + Miscellaneous Fees + (Other specific fees)
When to Use This Calculator:
This calculator is most useful when you are:
Comparing Loan Offers: Estimate closing costs from different lenders to see the total financial picture beyond just the interest rate.
Evaluating the Break-Even Point: Compare the total closing costs to the potential savings from a lower interest rate or monthly payment to determine how long it will take for the refinance to pay for itself.
Budgeting for Refinancing: Understand the upfront cash you'll need to bring to closing, or if you plan to roll these costs into the new loan amount.
Remember, this calculator provides an estimate. Actual closing costs may vary. It's always best to get a Loan Estimate from your lender for precise figures.
function calculateClosingCosts() {
var loanAmount = parseFloat(document.getElementById("loanAmount").value);
var refiLoanAmount = parseFloat(document.getElementById("refiLoanAmount").value);
var appraisalFee = parseFloat(document.getElementById("appraisalFee").value);
var titleInsurance = parseFloat(document.getElementById("titleInsurance").value);
var originationFeePercent = parseFloat(document.getElementById("originationFee").value);
var creditReportFee = parseFloat(document.getElementById("creditReportFee").value);
var recordingFees = parseFloat(document.getElementById("recordingFees").value);
var miscFees = parseFloat(document.getElementById("miscFees").value);
var totalClosingCosts = 0;
var originationCost = 0;
// Validate inputs and calculate
if (!isNaN(refiLoanAmount) && refiLoanAmount > 0) {
if (!isNaN(appraisalFee) && appraisalFee >= 0) {
totalClosingCosts += appraisalFee;
}
if (!isNaN(titleInsurance) && titleInsurance >= 0) {
totalClosingCosts += titleInsurance;
}
if (!isNaN(originationFeePercent) && originationFeePercent >= 0) {
originationCost = refiLoanAmount * (originationFeePercent / 100);
totalClosingCosts += originationCost;
}
if (!isNaN(creditReportFee) && creditReportFee >= 0) {
totalClosingCosts += creditReportFee;
}
if (!isNaN(recordingFees) && recordingFees >= 0) {
totalClosingCosts += recordingFees;
}
if (!isNaN(miscFees) && miscFees >= 0) {
totalClosingCosts += miscFees;
}
var formattedResult = totalClosingCosts.toFixed(2);
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "$" + formattedResult + "Estimated Total Closing Costs";
} else {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "Please enter valid loan amounts.";
}
}