Closing your home-purchase deal costs money — 3 to 5 percent of the purchase price — plus your down payment and any agent commissions you agreed to pay. You’ll be taking the money you owe to the document signing meeting, and you won’t see any of it again until next year’s tax refund arrives to erase the sting of closing day.

• Negotiate closing costs with the seller and make sure your deal is in the purchase contract.
• Comparison shop for lenders and closing agents.
• If an attorney is the closing agent in your area, call several to compare fees.
• Shop for your own homeowner’s insurance policy so you can compare rates instead of letting the lender provide the policy for you.
• Hire the same company to do a title search that the seller used when the house was listed for sale. This reduces the cost and means a more efficient process.
• Some first-time buyer programs help with the down payment and closing costs.Ask prospective lenders if you qualify for low down payment loans and whether a portion of your closing costs can be wrapped into the mortgage.
• Don’t schedule closing for a Monday. Your lender will have to put the mortgage money in escrow on Friday and you’ll pay interest on it for three extra days.

• You have the right under federal law to get, and by all means do so, an itemized list of fees at least one day prior to closing. This is provided on the HUD-1 Settlement Form. All fees that you and the seller must pay are itemized separately. Go over the list ahead of time.
• Read the sales contract one more time. Make a list of closing costs you agreed to pay and check it against the HUD form.
• Check the lender’s preliminary good faith estimate against the final document. Question any changes and additional fees.

Related links: Buyers' Closing Costs Breakdown; Explaining Escrow for Buyers