There is a way to have your broker pay your closing costs on your behalf. Contact a mortgage profession to discuss whether this option would be right for you.

In a refinance transaction, the closing costs are typically included in the new loan, resulting in minimal "out of pocket" expenses for the borrower.

Although prepaids are on the Good Faith Estimate they are not actually closing costs. Prepaids are your interest per day which will depend on your closing date and the money that is in an escrow account if you are setting one up.

The closing costs usually range between 2 percent to 6 percent of the loan amount. Expect to pay for such things as a loan origination fee, points, appraisal fee, title search and insurance, survey, taxes, deed recording fee, credit report charge and other costs assessed at settlement.

You can determine the breakdown of all the closing cost by reviewing your Good Faith Estimate that is provided by your loan officer.

Many closing costs are a fixed figure, however, some are percentage based depending on the loan amount. This will cause your closing costs to vary depending on the price of your home.

Typical Closing Costs for a homebuyer include, but not limited to, the following fees; Loan Origination, Loan Discount, Appraisal, Credit Report, Inspection, Mortgage Broker, Tax Related Service, Processing, Underwriting, Courier, Flood Certification, Flood Insurance, Hazard Insurance, Private Mortgage Insurance, Title Search, Title Insurance, Attorney, Recording, County Tax Stamps, and Survey.

Expenses, over and above the price of the property, incurred by buyers and sellers in transferring ownership of a property. Closing costs normally include an origination fee, an attorney's fee, taxes, an amount placed in escrow, and charges for obtaining title insurance and a survey. Closing costs percentage will vary according to the area of the country.

It is important to note that the Good Faith Estimate is only an ESTIMATE. Seldomly does the GFE exactly represent the closing costs for a loan with a specific lender. For this reason, you should never do business with somebody based solely on the Good Faith Estimate. Many good brokers will overstate the amount of your closing costs, so you aren't surprised by an increase in costs when it comes time to close the loan. Conversely, many bad brokers will understate the amount of closing costs in order to lure you into doing business with them.

For this reason, you should not base your decision to do business with a specific person or company based solely on the GFE. Consider whether or not they seem honest, hard-working and fair. Ask them tough questions such as "How long have you been in the business?" or "How is it that you get paid?" or "How much do you make on a typical loan?". Questions like this will allow you to judge the character of the individual, in order to make an informed decision about who you should choose for a home loan.

The Closing Costs for your transaction will be itemized on the HUD-1 form at closing. This form lists all the details of the purchase or refinance, the money going into and out of the transaction. This form is generally finalized and available to the borrower, seller, Real Estate Agents and Brokers 24-48 hours before closing. All parties involved should review the HUD-1 at this time to identify any discrepancies. Depending on your situation and the timing of your closing this form may not be available until the day of closing.

As a buyer in the transaction you may ask the seller to contribute to your closing costs. In most cases the typical amount is 3% but this is not set in stone. It can be as high as 6% depending on what your lender will allow with the program you are using. This is a negotiable amount and not all sellers are willing to contribute. In areas of the country where the real estate market is really hot and you have buyers fighting for properties it can be more difficult to accomplish this. Always ask if the seller is willing to contribute to closing costs because you just might be suprised.