Shopping for Title/Settlement Services in NJ for Refinance
I'm doing another refinance (property located in South Jersey) and just received a loan estimate from the lender that I want to go with.
I currently have a 6% 30yr with 29 yrs remaining where I already make extra principal payments that bring my total payment in-line with the payment of a 20-yr.
I'm trying to get close to a "no-cost refi" by getting a 20yr at 5.625% fixed using a $5.2k lender credit (would have been 5.375% w/o the credit at par). My goal is to improve my current rate while keeping my break-even point short enough to hopefully refi to a 15-year in the next year or two if rates keep dropping. Loan amount is about $420k. I want to refi now as "insurance" in case rates don't actually keep decreasing.
Section A origination costs are $1.9k.
Section B (appraisal, title review, credit report) costs are $1k but will drop to $500 as we expect that the appraisal will get waived.
The Section C title/settlement fees are $2.7k. That feels a bit high to me. Last time, I used a different lender with a different title company and they were only $1.7k. The lender's title insurance stands out the most compared to when I refi'd around a year ago ($1.9k this time vs $1.1k last time).
Does anyone have any experience shopping around for title/settlement services and have any recommendations for title/settlement companies that operate in South Jersey? I contacted the company that my prior lender used but they said they only work with that specific lender and not with the one I'm about to go with, so unfortunately that isn't an option.
Other than than that, I'm satisfied with the rest of the closing costs. As it currently stands, my breakeven point is 3 months so this seems like a no-brainer even without reducing the title costs any further.
Posted Feb 25, 2026, 5:40 AM UTC