A popular way to save on "out of pocket" expenses would be to roll the loan fees into the loan.

One of the best ways to save money on your mortgage is to make sure you keep as much money as possible in your assets, whether they be bank accounts, investments, or any other liquid source, and do not incur large liabilities prior to or during the application process.

Do not have your credit report pulled to many times or your credit score can drop. The best option is to obtain a copy of your credit report to share with potential mortgage brokers. They can structure the deal based off of your credit report. Keep in mind that they will need to do a final credit pull and score that is pulled by the broker could vary slightly from yours.

One way to save is to use the same title company you used previously. Check with them and ask if they will offer a re-issue rate for your title insurance.

Compare two lenders by APR. The lower the APR, the better. APR takes your closing costs into consideration.

If you have no plan of moving and intend to keep the mortgage for a long time, consider paying discount points to permanently buy down the interest rate. The extra cost today can often save you thousands in the long run.

A temporary buydown is another way to save money on your mortgage. A Temporary buydown allows borrowers with excess cash but low incomes, to qualify for loans that would otherwise be out of their reach.

Make sure you are getting quotes from 2 or 3 different lenders and that each one of them provides you with a good faith estimate. Look over these estimates very closely and compare apples to apples. While the bottom line number is important you also need to make sure everything is included on the GFE by each lender. One of the most common items left off of a GFE are the amounts for setting up escrow accounts to pay for your property taxes and homeowners insurance. By leaving this off of your GFE the lender can give the appearance that their total cost of doing the loan is considerably less even thought they are not and they may even be much higher. Thus, make sure you have questions about anything that you are not sure about when comparing and reviewing fees.