Friend told me I was wasting money on my refi closing costs and now I'm second guessing everything

A buddy of mine who works at a credit union in Portland said my lender was charging me $800 more than I should be paying just in origination fees. I always thought those were pretty standard but he showed me his numbers from last year and it was way lower. Now I'm wondering if I shop around more or just stick with who I already started paperwork with. Anyone else get blindsided by fees they thought were normal?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanjohnson3mo ago

Shop around now before you lock anything in. Got a quote from three different lenders when I did mine and it saved me about $600 on origination alone. The paperwork you started isn't lost yet, just tell them you're comparing offers and they'll usually match or beat the lower price.

adams.vera3mo ago

Whoa, wait... $800 more just in origination fees? That's wild, I thought those were usually pretty close between lenders. I'd definitely shop around like your friend said, just to see if you can get a better deal before locking in.

kim_patel891mo ago

@seanjohnson is spot on here. I ran into the same issue when I refinanced last year, a buddy from a local bank showed me his closing disclosure and I was shocked at how much more my original lender was charging. Ended up taking that info to a couple other places and one matched it with lower fees across the board, saved me about $700 total. The paperwork you started is just an application, you can back out anytime before you sign the final papers without losing anything serious. Just tell them you're shopping around and ask for a breakdown of every fee, then compare that side by side with a couple others.