For most home buyers, coming up with the full purchase price is impossible.

The average buyer, even if buying his second or third home, still borrows most of the purchase price.

You might assume that once your loan amount is decided, all you will need at the closing table is your cash down payment. But there are many additional expenses associated with a new loan, and the buyer usually pays them.

How much are we talking about? Depending on the kind of loan and dollar amount of the loan, closing costs will typically be 2 percent to 3 percent of the loan.

Here is a breakdown of typical closing costs on a 30-year fixed rate conventional loan of $164,000:

Lender fees of $2,119, including a loan origination fee of 3/4 of 1 percent. Many lendersquote a 1 percent origination fee, but competition has forced volume lenders to a lower fee of about $1,230 for putting the package together.

Additional lender fees are appraisal ($225), credit report ($15), application ($95) and administration ($350), not to mention a tax service fee of $77 and a flood zone certification fee of $7. To add salt to the wound, often lenders add a "processing fee" of $100.

I think the application fee, the administration fee and the processing are unnecessary costs that represent padding by the lender. The same goes for any "warehousing" fee (as if your loan funds had to be stored in a warehouse).

The next major area of cost is related to the closing attorney, but you can save if you shop around:

Attorneys like to charge about $200 for the title examination and binder plus $500 for the closing. Some high-volume offices will do the same job for $350. The lender also requires title insurance coverage of $273, which is not optional. Attorneys often add "junk fees" of a couple hundred dollars for meaningless categories such as "document prep fees" or "delivery fees," even when no deliveries were made. If challenged, the attorney often drop these fees rather than justify them.

Finally, what would a major financial transaction be without the government getting into the act?

Fees vary by state. Georgia requires an "intangibles" tax of $1.50 for each $500 of loan. With our example loan of $164,000, that amounts to a state tax of almost $500 for nothing. State lawmakers several years ago decided to end all intangible taxes but forgot about this one and decided they needed the money too much to let it go. It is a general revenue tax.

Last is a "Georgia residential per-loan" fee of $6.50, which began being imposed on lenders several years ago. All lenders started adding it to the buyers' side of closing costs.

So total typical closing costs for a buyer getting a conventional loan of $164,000 amounted to around $3,600, or 2.2 percent of the amount borrowed.

How do you stop a lender or closing attorney from overcharging you? Demand a written guarantee of all costs associated with the loan before you make a formal loan application. That document is called a "good faith estimate," and lenders are required by federal law to give you one in writing at the time of your application. You can call lenders while shopping for rates and ask them to fax you their "good faith estimate" before you ever make up your mind whom to use. If they refuse, select another lender.

As far as the closing attorney is concerned, most lenders will give you a list of approved attorneys from whom you can choose. Ask each to itemize all costs originating from their office before you make your final selection.

And as to eliminating the Georgia intangibles tax on new loans, I have been trying for years to convince the legislature that this form of taxation hurts first-time and low-income buyers. My pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Governor Perdue, are you listening?

Note: In last Sunday's column, one sentence stated it was wise to give your Social Security number to lenders, even when shopping for rates. That sentence should have said it is not wise to give out personal information unless absolutely necessary. In fact, it is always best to safeguard your Social Security number unless a lender needs it for a specific purpose.

Also: My column last week noted that you can get your credit report for free twice a year. These are the numbers to call: Equifax at 1-800-685-1111, TransUnion at 1-800-888-4213 or Experian at 1-888-397-3742.

John Adams is a broker and investor. His Web site is www.money99.com.