Apartment Refinance Closing Cost Estimator

Short answer

The estimator lists each cost of refinancing a 5+ unit apartment building: lender and application fees, appraisal, property condition report, Phase I environmental report, both sides' legal, title, survey, rate lock and upfront reserves and escrows. You edit each line to your quotes and it totals them in dollars and as a percent of the loan.

What the estimator answers

It answers how much cash a refinance costs before a dollar of proceeds reaches you, and which lines make up that number. Owners usually see one figure in a term sheet, the lender fee, and get surprised by the rest at closing. This tool puts every line on one page so you can compare quotes and plan the wire.

It is built for owners refinancing a 5+ unit building with a loan of $1 million or more, where third-party reports, legal and escrows add up to real money on top of the lender's fee.

Closing cost estimator

Loan amount ($)

Line item	Type	Amount

Total closing costs–

As % of the loan–

Estimates only, not a loan quote.

How to use it

Start with your loan amount, then replace each default line with a number from a quote or an engagement letter. Leave a line at its default only until you have the real number.

Lender fee and application fee

Enter the origination fee from the term sheet, usually stated as a percent of the loan, plus any application or processing fee. Agency loans carry their own application fees: Freddie Mac's Conventional Small term sheet, for example, lists an application fee of 0.1% of the loan amount. If a broker or advisor is paid separately, add that fee here too.

Appraisal, property condition report and Phase I

These three reports are ordered by the lender and paid by you. The appraisal sets the value your loan sizes against. The property condition report (PCR) sets the repairs the lender will require and the replacement reserve. The Phase I environmental site assessment is generally done to ASTM E1527-21, the standard EPA recognizes under its All Appropriate Inquiries rule. Ask the lender for the engaged fee on each one, often due with the application.

Legal

Enter two numbers if you can: your own attorney's estimate and the lender's counsel fee, which you also pay. Lender's counsel is often quoted as a flat fee or a cap. Entity work, such as forming a new single-purpose entity, adds to both.

Title, survey and recording

Your title company quotes the lender's title policy premium, endorsements, settlement fee and recording charges. Some states also charge mortgage recording or transfer-type taxes on the new loan, which can be the largest line on the page. Ask the title company to include them. A new or updated ALTA survey is quoted separately by the surveyor.

Rate lock

Enter any lock fee or deposit. Some locks are refundable at closing, some are not, and some programs build lock costs into the rate. Freddie Mac's Conventional Small term sheet, for example, describes a spread lock for 60 days after loan application. Read your lender's lock terms before you treat a deposit as a cost.

Reserves and escrows

Enter the upfront deposits the lender requires: tax and insurance escrows, a replacement reserve deposit, and any repair escrow from the PCR. Freddie Mac's term sheet says tax and insurance escrows and replacement reserve deposits are generally required. These are your money held for the property, not fees, and the tool keeps them in a separate subtotal for that reason.

HUD and other program charges

If you are pricing a HUD 223(f) loan, add the mortgage insurance premium. Under HUD's 2025 notice, the upfront premium on 223(f) is 0.25% and is capitalized into the loan, for applications submitted or amended on or after October 1, 2025. The HUD 223(f) page covers HUD's other fees.

Worked example

Say you are refinancing with a $5,000,000 loan. The example fills each line with a hypothetical quote: a lender fee, an appraisal, a property condition report, a Phase I, both sides' legal, title, survey, a rate lock deposit, and upfront reserves and escrows. None of these amounts is a quote from a real lender.

Hypothetical quotes on a $5,000,000 loan	Amount
Lender origination fee	$50,000
Appraisal	$5,000
Property condition report	$3,500
Phase I environmental report	$3,000
Lender legal	$15,000
Borrower legal	$12,000
Title and recording	$9,000
Survey	$4,000
Tax and insurance escrows	$35,000
Total	$136,500 (2.73% of the loan)

Read the total in two parts. The fees are gone once you close. The reserves and escrows are still your money, held by the servicer and drawn for taxes, insurance and capital work, so they hurt cash at closing without being a true cost. When you compare two lenders, compare the fee subtotal; when you plan the wire, use the full total.

Look at which lines are a percent of the loan and which are flat. Percent lines grow with the loan. Flat lines, mostly reports and legal, weigh much more on a small loan than a large one, which is why small refinances often cost a higher share of the loan.

What this tool assumes

Your numbers beat the defaults. Default lines are placeholders. Costs vary by lender, state, property size and the condition of the building.
No prepayment cost. The cost to pay off your current loan is not a closing cost here. Price it with the refinance break-even calculator.
No taxes on the transaction unless you add them. Mortgage recording and similar taxes depend on the state and sometimes the county. Confirm them with your title company or attorney.
One closing. It does not model a loan that closes, then needs a supplemental loan or a modification later.

What to do with your result

If the total is higher than you expected, find the two or three largest lines and ask about them first. Lender fees and lender's counsel are often negotiable. Reports are not, but you can ask whether a recent report can be updated rather than reordered.

Next, carry the total into the cash-out refinance calculator as your closing costs, so your net proceeds reflect real numbers. If you have more than one term sheet, run them through the term sheet comparison, which spreads fees over your hold. The refinance closing costs guide explains each line in more depth. You can also send the estimate to a partner or use "get quotes on these numbers" to have Janover Capital LLC compare lenders on it.

Frequently asked questions

What closing costs should I expect on an apartment refinance?

Expect a lender or origination fee, any application fee, the appraisal, a property condition report, a Phase I environmental report, your attorney and the lender's attorney, title insurance and settlement, a survey, recording charges and any state mortgage taxes, plus upfront reserves and escrows. The amounts vary by lender, state and loan size, so enter your own quotes into the estimator line by line rather than relying on a single percentage.

Are reserves and escrows part of closing costs?

They are part of the cash you need at closing, but they are not fees. Tax and insurance escrows, replacement reserves and repair escrows are your money, held by the servicer and spent on the property. The estimator shows them in a separate subtotal so you can compare lender fees cleanly while still planning the full amount you need to bring or net out of proceeds.

Can closing costs be paid from the loan proceeds?

Usually yes, if the new loan is large enough. Closing costs are netted from the proceeds at closing, which lowers the cash you take out or raises the cash you bring in. The cash-out refinance calculator shows that math. If the loan does not cover your payoff plus costs, you need to bring the difference, so run both tools together before you sign a term sheet.

Who pays for the appraisal and third-party reports?

You do. The lender engages the appraiser, the property condition consultant and the environmental consultant so the reports are addressed to the lender, but the borrower pays for them, often with a deposit at application. If the loan does not close, that deposit is usually spent. Ask the lender whether reports ordered for one lender can be reused if you move to another.

How do HUD 223(f) closing costs differ?

HUD loans add charges that agency and bank loans do not, including the mortgage insurance premium. Under HUD's September 2025 notice, the upfront premium on 223(f) loans is 0.25% and is capitalized into the loan, with a 0.25% annual premium, for applications submitted or amended on or after October 1, 2025. Add the premium and HUD's own fees as separate lines in the estimator.