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Disclaimer: Estimates are meant to be illustrative and used for reference purposes only. No representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind is made regarding the completeness or accuracy of information provided. No legal, tax, financial or accounting advice provided.

Expect the lender bucket to include an origination charge (often 0%–1% of the loan amount), plus flat processing/underwriting, credit report, flood cert and tax-service fees that commonly total a few hundred dollars. A single-point “discount fee” is optional and strictly a buy-down of rate. Always ask your Loan Estimate to separate true lender charges from third-party pass-throughs so you can comparison-shop apples to apples.

Buyers usually see a title search/exam charge in the low hundreds, a regulated lender’s policy fee, an owner’s policy premium based on price tiers, and a settlement/attorney fee that’s often a flat quote (roughly $1k–$1.6k is common). Because NJ closings are attorney-driven, some items that an escrow company would handle elsewhere sit under “legal” here; confirm who is doing what so you’re not double-paying.

Owner’s title premiums are filed rates calculated per $1,000 of purchase price on a sliding scale (the per-thousand cost drops as the price climbs). The buyer almost always pays for both the owner’s policy and the lender’s policy in NJ practice, though you can negotiate anything in a contract—just don’t assume until it’s written.

For buyers, the relevant item is usually the mortgage recording: one “first page” fee plus a smaller per-additional-page amount, with the total often landing in the $100–$150 ballpark for a typical mortgage. Deed recording and transfer taxes are seller-side, so do not belong in a buyer calculator post-2025 reforms.

“Prepaids” are charges collected upfront but applied to future periods—think your first year of homeowner’s insurance and daily interest from closing to month-end. “Escrows” (aka impounds) are cushion deposits for property taxes, insurance and sometimes PMI that your servicer will pay when bills come due; collecting a couple months at closing is standard so your account never runs negative.

A general home inspection often runs a few hundred dollars, with add-ons like termite/WDI, radon, oil tank sweeps or sewer scopes priced separately (each typically $100–$300). Surveys, HOA transfer/setup fees and municipal certificate charges can also pop up—none are huge individually, but together they add meaningful friction to your cash to close.

They’re still smart, just tailored: you may skip a full boundary survey on a high-rise unit, but you’ll want a solid interior inspection, a review of HVAC and appliances, and possibly a sewer scope in older garden complexes. Budget time and a little money for HOA/condo association docs, questionnaire fees and move-in deposits—the “hidden” condo costs buyers forget until the last minute.