*Loan,banking and credit>>>mortgage loan

Is loan origination fees on mortgages always required?

I am refinancing my 540K mortgage and the loan origination fee is 1% is there any way to avoid this? or is this common. total closing costs including prepaids is $11,700. Help!!

Everything is negotiable on a loan. Everything. Get quotes from multiple agencies (careful that you don't overdo it since most have to run a hard check against your credit which dings you a couple of points each time), and then bounce one off the other until you get the best deal possible. Don't forget about online businesses!

Yes. This is to cover the cost for initiating the paper work.

The fee is required. However, the rate could be negotiable. If you have a good relationship with a bank, they might waive it for you.

This is to try deter people from apply for loan and say "just kidding!"
The Fee IS NOT REQUIRED. If you are getting a prime loan and you have excellent credit, try and negotiate it or consider going to another lender who advertises low fees.

Origination fees, underwriting fees, etc, are considered "junk fees' and are a way for the bank to get more money and pay their bankers-- but the bank makes enough off of interest, so this is just another income.
You can negociate it down, it is a rip-off fee anyway, unless it is a VA loan.
. I recall watching some ads that waived the origination fees. Check around for some other Lenders.Another option you can have is paying a point to reduce you interest rate...hopefully by a point....over time you will end up saving money.....example...instead of 6.5%...you can buy a point and bring your interest down to 5.5% interest. If you are paying PMI (private mortgage insurance)....that happens when you don't have 20% equity in the house, you can get a 80/20 loan. Two separate loan...one for 80% of the house and 20% of the house...this will avoid paying PMI..however,the interest might be different on each loan....good luck!!
Investor
Roberta,

Loan originations fees are always optional, the mortgage company always makes money some way or another. If you don't want to pay the origination fee usually you will pay a higher rate to compensate for the origination fee. I am an owner of a mortgage company in Southern California and I would gladly work with you and let you know if you are being ripped off. Your credit score, loan to value, debt ratio, and type of loan are all taken into consideration, also if you are setting up an impound account for your taxes and insurace to be paid monthly in your payment you closing costs will be higher as well, if your loan funds in October you will be making you first payment in December and have to impound 4 months of property taxes and 2 months of your insurance, you will also have to pay prepaid interest charges from the day your loan funds til the last day of the month, this way you will not have a partial payment due in November and your first payment will be made on December 1st. I hope I am not confusing you more. If you have any questions feel free to email me through my yahoo answers