"A reasonable markup is 1, 1 ½ percent for the typical mortgage of $250 [thousand] ... and above," he says. "And don't let them pad it with admin fees, doc-prep fees, processing fees. We're very creative, you know."

Determining how much you're paying in fees -- upfront or rolled into the interest rate -- isn't easy. But it's worth your time to hunt, negotiate and compare deals from both lenders and brokers.

"Everything is negotiable," Cruise says. "Credit report, appraisal, what are called 'junk' or 'garbage' fees, origination fees."

Look at all the lines in the 800 "block" of the good-faith estimate to see how fees under various names add up, Cruise says. Also find the "yield spread premium," often listed as "YSP POC," to see how much that will cost you.

A yield spread premium refers to a common practice in which the lender pays the broker because you've agreed to a higher interest rate than you could otherwise get. You might choose this path to lower the amount of money you'll have to cough up at settlement. But you don't want to pay top dollar on both ends, Cruise says.

Brokers have to disclose this premium. But here's the rub: You might get nothing more specific than, say, "zero to 3 percent" until you near settlement.

If you're using a broker, Cruise recommends that you keep looking until you find one willing to tell you the premium figure early on and explain how it affects your rate. Better yet, get a guarantee in writing that all the fees he or she has control over won't change at settlement. (If you know what your FICO score is, you can go to www.myfico.com to see what interest rates lenders are offering people with similar credit scores, which will give you a point of comparison.)

Bottom line: Ask questions and don't take anything for granted. A fee might be pre-printed on the sheet and labeled "standard," but that doesn't mean you really should be paying it, he says.

And remember that comparing offers by total loan costs can be risky. That's because the figure includes the pro-rated taxes and insurance you'll have to pre-pay, says Holden Lewis at Bankrate.com.

"Depending on the date that you apply and the date of the closing that you set, those numbers can vary a whole lot and make that bottom line vary," he says.

Lewis also suggests that you ask people you trust -- family, friends, co-workers -- about their experiences in the mortgage market. You want referrals, of course, but anti-referrals are just as important.

"I hear stories about people who ... were told their fees were going to be X amount; they get into closing and it was twice that," Lewis said. "They're going to say, 'Hey, I was burned. Don't go to this broker, don't go to this loan officer.'"

Both Cruise and Lewis have useful advice about preparing for and dealing with settlement. But that will be for a later How-to.