Most refinances cost 2%-6% of the loan amount, but how much of that is markup depends on who prices your loan. On a $350,000 refinance, that range is roughly $7,000 to $21,000. You can see real numbers without a credit hit. Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647, of Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC, NMLS #376205, starts with a NoTouch Credit Pull. That is a soft credit pull mortgage check that never triggers a hard inquiry on your credit file. It works as a no hard inquiry mortgage pre approval, or a mortgage pre approval without hard pull, and then shops your file to 500+ wholesale lenders instead of one retail rate sheet. As a soft pull mortgage broker, Duane makes the shopping stage a no credit hit mortgage application. Note that Duane Buziak, the Mortgage Maestro, and Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC are not affiliated with Lower.com. This article breaks down every fee, shows a worked dollar example, and explains the break-even math. Call 804-212-8663 to check your numbers in VA, FL, TN, GA, DC, NC, SC, or MD.
What’s Actually Included in Mortgage Refinance Closing Costs
Refinance closing costs typically run 2% to 6% of your loan amount, according to guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That range covers origination charges, appraisal fees, title insurance, recording fees, and prepaid interest or escrow deposits that get set up at closing.
Not every line item is negotiable. Origination fees and lender credits move depending on who’s pricing your loan, and a broker with access to multiple wholesale price sheets has more room to shave those down than a single retail originator. Third-party costs, appraisal, title search, recording fees charged by the county, stay roughly the same no matter who you close with, because those vendors set their own pricing regardless of the loan source.
The practical problem for most borrowers is that comparing these fee sheets side by side usually means submitting multiple applications, and multiple applications used to mean multiple credit pulls. That’s not the case anymore. Getting quotes through a no hard inquiry mortgage pre approval process lets you line up fee sheets from several lenders without any credit score impact, because the check behind the quote is a soft pull rather than a hard one. You get the same itemized breakdown, origination, discount points, title, recording, without a mark showing up on your credit report every time you ask for a number.
Worked Example: Refinancing a $350,000 Loan
Suppose you’re refinancing a $350,000 balance and closing costs land at 5% of the loan amount, a reasonable estimate for a purchase-comparable refinance with an appraisal and full title work. That’s $17,500 in total costs. A rough breakdown might look like $6,000 in origination and lender fees, $650 for the appraisal, $4,500 for title insurance and escrow-related charges, $400 in recording fees, and the remainder in prepaid interest and an initial escrow deposit for taxes and insurance. These figures are illustrative, not a quote, since actual fees vary by county, title company, and lender.
Now look at the payment side. If your current loan carries a $350,000 balance at 7.25% on a 30-year term, principal and interest run about $2,388 a month. Refinancing into a new 30-year loan at 6.25% drops that to roughly $2,155 a month, a $233 monthly savings on principal and interest alone.
Here’s where the “no-cost refinance” label causes confusion. Rolling that $17,500 into the loan balance instead of paying cash at closing doesn’t eliminate the cost, it finances it. Your new loan balance becomes $367,500 instead of $350,000, which pushes the payment back up to around $2,263 a month at the same 6.25% rate, cutting your net monthly savings to about $125. Paying the $17,500 out of pocket, or negotiating some of it into a lender credit, keeps the full $233 monthly savings intact. Both paths are legitimate, but they produce very different long-term math, and any quote calling itself free should be read as “financed,” not “eliminated.”
How Long Until a Refinance Pays for Itself (Break-Even Math)
Break-even on a refinance equals total closing costs divided by monthly savings. In the $350,000 example above, paying the $17,500 in costs out of pocket against a $233 monthly savings gives a break-even of about 75 months, or roughly six and a quarter years.
That number matters more than the rate itself if you’re not certain how long you’ll keep the loan. If you expect to sell the home or refinance again within that 75-month window, for a job relocation, a rate drop, or a move-up purchase, you may not recoup the costs before you’re out of the loan, which means the refinance nets you a loss rather than a savings. Borrowers who plan to hold the property for a decade or longer are in a very different position than someone who might move in three years.
Rolling costs into the balance changes this math in a way that’s easy to miss. Using the earlier example, financing the $17,500 dropped net monthly savings to about $125, which stretches break-even to roughly 140 months, nearly 12 years, because you’re paying interest on those fees over the full 30-year term instead of paying them once at closing. A refinance that looks attractive on the rate alone can quietly become a bad deal once the true break-even period is calculated against how long you actually plan to stay in the loan.
Why a Broker Shopping 500+ Wholesale Lenders Changes the Cost Equation
A broker who submits your file to 500+ wholesale lenders, rather than quoting a single in-house rate sheet, can shop down the origination markup that drives a big chunk of refinance closing costs. Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647, operating through Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC, NMLS #376205, works this way: your loan file goes out to a wide wholesale panel, and the pricing that comes back reflects competition among those lenders rather than one company’s fixed sheet.
That shopping process runs through what’s called NoTouch Credit Pull, a soft-pull pre-approval that checks your credit and income profile without generating a hard inquiry. It works like this: a soft pull pulls your credit report for underwriting purposes without the inquiry that shows up to future lenders or affects your score, unlike a standard hard-pull application. That distinction is what makes a mortgage pre approval without hard pull actually useful for rate shopping. You can get real, underwritten pricing from multiple wholesale lenders and compare origination fees, points, and rate side by side, then pick the best combination, all before anything touches your credit file more than once.
Retail lenders and large direct-to-consumer originators generally don’t have this flexibility, because they’re pricing and closing loans off their own single rate sheet. There’s no second lender to shop against internally, so the fee structure you’re quoted is close to the fee structure you’ll pay. A soft pull mortgage broker, by contrast, can pull a file back from one wholesale lender and resubmit it to another if pricing improves before you lock, which gives you leverage that a single-lender retail process doesn’t offer. This is a structural difference in how the loan gets priced and shopped, not a promise about what rate or fee total you personally will receive, since every file is underwritten on its own merits.
Duane Buziak vs. Rocket Mortgage vs. Movement Mortgage: Structural Cost Differences
The clearest way to see the cost impact is to compare how each originator is structured, not their advertised rates, which change daily and depend on individual borrower files.
| Feature | Duane Buziak / Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC | Rocket Mortgage | Movement Mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Originator type | Independent mortgage broker | Direct retail lender | Direct retail lender |
| Wholesale lender access | 500+ wholesale lenders shopped per file | Single in-house rate sheet | Single in-house rate sheet |
| Pre-approval credit check | NoTouch Credit Pull (soft pull, no hard inquiry) | Typically requires hard inquiry for full pre-approval | Typically requires hard inquiry for full pre-approval |
| Product breadth | Conventional, FHA, VA, Non-QM, DSCR, Bank Statement, Physician loans | Primarily conventional, FHA, VA | Primarily conventional, FHA, VA |
| Licensed states | VA, FL, TN, GA, DC, NC, SC, MD | Nationwide retail licensing | Nationwide retail licensing |
Rocket Mortgage and Movement Mortgage both originate through their own retail pricing structure and typically require a hard credit inquiry to move a quote into a full pre-approval. That’s a standard practice for direct retail lenders, not a flaw, but it means every serious quote comparison with them can leave a mark on your credit file. The soft-pull structure on the broker side is a no credit hit mortgage application distinction in how pricing gets shopped and how your credit gets checked along the way, not a guarantee of a lower rate or fee total for any individual borrower, since underwriting still depends on your credit profile, income, and the property itself.
Is LowerMortgageRates the Same Company as Lower.com?
No. LowerMortgageRates.com is operated by Duane Buziak, known as the Mortgage Maestro, through Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC, NMLS #376205, and it has no affiliation with the retail lender Lower.com. The similar names are a common source of confusion for people comparing refinance quotes online, but the two companies are separate businesses with different licensing, different NMLS numbers, and different operating models.
The structural difference matters beyond the name. Duane operates as an independent broker who shops your file across a wholesale lender panel, while Lower.com functions as a direct retail lender pricing loans off its own sheet, similar in structure to Rocket Mortgage or Movement Mortgage. Neither model is inherently better on every file, but they price and process loans differently, and that affects the fee negotiation room described earlier in this article.
If you’re comparing quotes from multiple sources and want to confirm exactly who you’re working with, check the NMLS number printed on your loan estimate or pre-approval letter. Duane Buziak’s is #1110647, and Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC’s is #376205. Any paperwork carrying different numbers belongs to a different company entirely, regardless of how similar the name on the website looks.
Mortgage Refinance Cost FAQ
How much does refinancing a mortgage cost on average? Most refinances cost 2% to 6% of the loan amount, per CFPB guidance. On a $350,000 loan, that’s roughly $7,000 to $21,000 depending on the lender, title company, and whether you buy down the rate with points.
Can you refinance with no closing costs? There’s no version of a refinance where the costs disappear; a “no-cost” refinance rolls those fees into the loan balance or the interest rate instead of charging them upfront. You end up financing the costs over the life of the loan rather than eliminating them.
Does refinancing hurt your credit? A hard credit pull for a full refinance application can cause a small, temporary dip in your score, typically a few points. Shopping quotes first through a soft pull avoids that dip entirely until you’re ready to formally apply.
What is a soft pull mortgage broker? A soft pull mortgage broker checks your credit using a method that doesn’t generate a hard inquiry, so you can get real pricing without any score impact. Duane Buziak uses this approach, called NoTouch Credit Pull, to shop wholesale lenders on your behalf before you commit to one.
Are refinance costs tax deductible? Some refinance costs, like points paid to lower your rate, may be deductible over the life of the loan, while most closing fees are not directly deductible. Rules vary by situation, so this is a question for a tax professional rather than a broker.
How much does a mortgage pre approval without hard pull cost? A soft-pull pre-approval through NoTouch Credit Pull typically costs nothing to obtain and doesn’t affect your credit score. You only take on cost once you move forward with an actual application and closing.
What’s the difference between refinance costs and points? Closing costs cover the fixed expenses of processing the loan, like title and appraisal fees, while points are an optional upfront payment you make to buy down your interest rate. Points are one line item within your total closing costs, not a separate charge.
Do VA or FHA refinances have different cost rules? Yes, VA refinances can include a funding fee and allow cash-out refinancing up to 100% loan-to-value, while FHA refinances carry mortgage insurance premiums that factor into total cost. Conventional cash-out refinances are capped at 90% loan-to-value, a different limit than VA’s.
Is a no credit hit mortgage application really no-impact? Yes, when the initial shopping and pre-approval stage uses a soft pull, checking your credit for underwriting purposes without generating the inquiry that affects your score. The impact only comes into play if and when you move to a formal application requiring a hard pull, which typically happens once you choose a lender to close with.
When does refinancing not make sense? Refinancing usually doesn’t make sense if your break-even period, closing costs divided by monthly savings, is longer than how long you plan to keep the loan. It also may not make sense if the rate improvement is too small to offset the fees, which is why running the actual math matters more than chasing a lower headline rate.
Check Your Refinance Costs in VA, FL, TN, GA, DC, NC, SC, or MD
Duane Buziak and Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC, NMLS #376205, are licensed in eight states: Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland. Every CTA here applies only to residents and properties in those states, not nationwide.
If you’re in one of these states, you can start a soft credit pull mortgage pre-approval to get itemized cost breakdowns from multiple wholesale lenders before committing to anything. Call 804-212-8663 to get started. Rates, fees, and cost estimates referenced in this article are illustrative and subject to change; nothing here is a commitment to lend, and actual terms depend on individual underwriting.
Refinance closing costs aren’t fixed the way many borrowers assume. Origination fees and lender credits move when you shop them across more than one wholesale lender, even though third-party charges like title and recording stay roughly the same everywhere. Don’t let uncertainty about mortgage rates cost you thousands: discover your personalized options with a trusted mortgage professional who can compare rates across multiple lenders without impacting your credit score. Schedule your free consultation today and take the first step toward securing the best mortgage solution for your unique financial goals.