There are plenty of fees that you'll have to make during the closing. Depending on prior negotiations, the buyer or the seller could be responsible for these costs, although typically the most of it is paid by the buyer. All closing costs are spelled out in the lender's Good Faith Estimate. If you want to make sure you are paying the least amount possible in closing cost fees, you should get at least three Good Faith Estimates from mortgage lenders. This is only an estimate and the actual charges may differ.

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act allows the borrower to request to see the HUD-1 Settlement Statement that shows all actual charges imposed on borrower in connection with the settlement one day before the settlement. If you see a charge that doesn't make sense, or that no other lender has, it's time to ask questions. The best way to avoid hidden or otherwise unnecessary closing costs, mortgage specialists say, is to understand the basics of the process well in advance. If you wait until the closing to try to prevent yourself from being ripped off, you're extremely vulnerable, said Jack Guttentag, the author of The Mortgage Encyclopedia, and a professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Discussing the various services in advance with a lender or broker can prevent such surprises. Buyers generally spend between 2 and 5 percent of the property's purchase price in closing costs, mortgage specialists say, and although there are dozens of different kinds of fees that go by different names (see www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/sc3secta.cfm, for a list of closing costs from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development), closing costs generally fall into several main categories. First are fees to cover the services of the lender or broker. The second category includes fees that borrowers pay the lender to cover services like appraisals and credit reports the lender has paid for upfront. The final itemized list of closing costs comes one business day before the closing, with the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.