I hate to say this, but you likely paid a higher origination fee than $600. It just wasn't due at close - instead it was baked into your mortgage payment every month in the form of a slightly higher interest rate. At the end of the day, brokers and bank branches want to earn a few thousand for "originating a mortgage." This is fancy way of saying retailing a mortgage. Although they often take less - maybe $900 - for a refinance. You can find out how much you were charged by looking through your mortgage paperwork. The bulk of the mortgage broker or bank branch retail mark up comes from something that is usually labeled "origination fee."
That said, thanks to recent reforms, an individual brokerage can no longer charge two borrowers will different commissions for the same mortgage. However, two different brokers can each charge very different fees. Quicken Loans, one of the largest mortgage originators out there, is notorious for charging much higher commissions than nearly anyone else. And thanks to the difficulty of comparison shopping, they're still successful in obtaining premium prices... even in the age of Zillow and Google.
No, I know all about origination fees. My interest rate was rock bottom, the absolute best available on a refinance of that type at the time. And based on what I've seen, comparison shopping is no longer difficult at all. If suckers are voluntarily paying higher prices then it isn't because of difficulty.
What's easy for you may be quite difficult for others. I'm not sure the Hacker News community should ever be considered the middle of the bell curve. To wit: prior to the financial crisis, one of the largest mortgage search engines conducted a large randomized survey of home owners. A little under 40% did not know if they had a fixed or adjustable rate mortgage.
That said, thanks to recent reforms, an individual brokerage can no longer charge two borrowers will different commissions for the same mortgage. However, two different brokers can each charge very different fees. Quicken Loans, one of the largest mortgage originators out there, is notorious for charging much higher commissions than nearly anyone else. And thanks to the difficulty of comparison shopping, they're still successful in obtaining premium prices... even in the age of Zillow and Google.