I was wondering if anyone out there in "cyberspace" would have any
interesting observations, or offer any feedback on this Good faith
estimate. Is $4K normal for closing costs on a refinance? fico was over
720, no prepay on this loan, stated income, 7year fixed arm. LTV is
about 75%. To me $4K closing doesn't look quite right.

Thanks for any feedback.

GFE can is located at : www.geocities.com/hamra56/gfe.pdf

The closing costs depends on the selling price, county & state transfer
fees & title company fees, etc. No one can tell you whether this is
right without knowing the loan amount, etc. If you received this good
faith estimate from the lender you are refinancing with, it should be
correct. There are Federal RESPA laws that they must comply with to
protect the consumer. If you are talking to a mortgage broker, I
suggest you deal directly with a reputable mortgage lender instead. The
brokers are middlemen who add considerable fees of their own to make
money off of you!

"Donna Dorn-Realtor, Long & Foster" writes:

The closing costs depends on the selling price, county & state transfer
fees & title company fees, etc. No one can tell you whether this is
right without knowing the loan amount, etc. If you received this good
faith estimate from the lender you are refinancing with, it should be
correct.

Correct is not the same as "fair"

There are Federal RESPA laws that they must comply with to
protect the consumer.

TRue--but they just cover disclosure of fees, and not regulating
actual fees. Hence these laws do not stop the routine screwings that
occur every day with mortgage lenders charging junk fees.

If you are talking to a mortgage broker, I suggest you deal directly
with a reputable mortgage lender instead. The brokers are middlemen
who add considerable fees of their own to make money off of you!

The unscrupulous ones certainly do, and there are plenty of em in this
field. Application fees, and such crap. It never hurts to have a
savvy real estate attorney on your side to review these statements.

But if you get a good one, their wholesale lending rates often beat
what a direct mortgage lender is willing to offer directly to a
consumer.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

"davi" wrote...
I was wondering if anyone out there in "cyberspace" would have any
interesting observations, or offer any feedback on this Good faith
estimate. Is $4K normal for closing costs on a refinance? fico was over
720, no prepay on this loan, stated income, 7year fixed arm. LTV is
about 75%. To me $4K closing doesn't look quite right.

Looks pretty good to me! Some mortgage lenders will charge a "loan initiation
fee" of up to 1 point, which would be $4500 alone in your case. All I see on
yours are some pretty standard fees (not that I agree all of them are really
necessary).

OTOH, your interest rate may be a bit higher than if you paid more up front. If
the rate is right, you got a reasonable deal.

"davi" writes:

GFE can is located at : www.geocities.com/hamra56/gfe.pdf


The only thing I see there that I'd question is the processing fee.
I'd press to see what exactly the $595 is buying you. I'd also press
to see what's in the underwriting fee of $600.

You may not get anywhere, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Also, if you're
using a broker, don't feel like they're going hungry. They're making
yield spread premium on ya, plus any lender to broker incentives even
if the processing fee is $0. Think of it in the same vein as "dealer
holdback" percentage, and factory to dealer incentives when buying a
new car, and why invoice price doesn't really reflect what the dealer
paid for the car. But even so, it's only a couple hundred bucks.

FWIW, my closing processing fee on my settlement statement was $360 to
my broker (who was a relative and did the loan for cheap and got us a
very good rate). Underwriting fee to the lender was $425 (GFE
estimated $500). Total settlement charges were $2607.60. This was an
85% ltv total loan package comprised of a 30 year fixed conventional
first mortgage and a HELOC.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/