Mortgage Confidential: How to compare mortgage closing costs

Mortgage expert David Reed invites Walletpop readers to ask him questions about real estate financing. leave your questions in the comment section of this post.

When comparing mortgage companies to try and find out who has the best deal, one is encouraged to ask for a "Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Charges," or simply, a "Good Faith," from each competing lender.

One lender may have a lower interest rate but tacks on a whole host of fees to make up for the lower rate. While yet another lender might offer fewer fees in lieu of a lower rate. There are several problems associated with reading a Good Faith, but the biggest problem is trying to understand all those fees, who charges them and what they're for.