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In a real estate purchase, who pays for what? What are my closing costs going to be? How 
much money am I going to need? If I don't have much money to work with, what can be done to work around having to spend a bunch of money? These are all valid questions when you are getting ready to purchase a home. And the answer is (as always), it depends!
It depends on which loan program you are going with and how you write your purchase offer. If you are financing your home purchase with a VA mortgage, you as the buyer are only allowed to pay certain closing costs and the seller can pay ALL of your closing costs.
If you're utilizing FHA financing or a conventional mortgage, the seller can pay up to a certain percentage towards your closing costs (3% of the purchase price on a 95% LTV or greater loan and up to 6% on a 94.99% or less LTV. In some cases the seller can even pay your pre-paid items for you (your insurance policy, your tax escrow, your insurance escrow and your interest adjustment).
All you really have to know at this point is that if you have at least halfway decent credit that you can indeed buy a home with little or nothing out of your pocket.
If you choose to pay your own closing costs you can expect to pay many of the following items. These fees and charges vary depending upon the lender and generally speaking, if a lender is charging less for their closing costs, they are generally making it up on the rate. This is not always a bad thing, especially if you only plan on owning the home for a short period of time. 
However, if you plan on keeping the home (and the mortgage) for anything over a couple of years, it might be better to pay the higher closing costs and to get the lower rate. Again, if you're confused with this, call us and we'll explain it to you in greater detail on the phone.
The best way to shop between lenders is to ask for a Good Faith Estimate of what your closing costs are going to be. That way you can look at the interest rate that the lender is willing to lock you in THAT DAY, factor in the closing costs and see who is truly offering you the better deal!
Traditional Closing Costs Can Be:
Loan Origination Fee (expressed as a percentage of the loan amount. Also called a Point. Usually charged to buy the interest rate on a mortgage down to a lower rate)
Discount Point (basically the same thing as a loan origination fee)
Credit Report Fee (Between $15.00 - $50.00 for a single person or married couple)
Tax Service Fee (between $50.00 and $100.00. A fee to hire a company to track the tax payments on the loan. Good for the life of the loan.)
Processing Fee (all over the place, basically a junk fee that is a one time fee to the originator of the mortgage. ValueList charges $325.00)
Underwriting Fee (Anywhere between $250.00 and $600.00. Charged by the lender who is funding the mortgage to review the documentation and to issue an underwriting determination)
Wire Transfer Fee (Between $35.00 and $50.00 per loan for the money to be wired to the title company.)
Closing or Escrow Fee (Between $100.00 and $500.00. Charged by the title company for administrative work done on your transaction)
Document Preparation Fee (Between $95.00 and $500.00. Charged by the company that prepares the documents, sometimes the lender, sometimes the broker, sometimes the title company.)
Notary Fee (Between $15.00 and $50.00. Charged by the title company for notarizing your signatures)
Attorney's Fee (Varies greatly depending upon how much work an attorney has to do on your particular transaction. In St. Louis it's hardly ever charged at all)
Title Insurance (Varies depending upon the size of the loan)
Recording Fee (Varies depending upon how many documents need to be recorded with the local municipality)
State Tax or Tax Stamps (Not charged in Missouri, but charged elsewhere. Generally a percentage of the purchase price or loan amount.)
Pest Inspection (Between $50.00 and $150.00 depending upon the size of the home and if there are any out buildings etc.)
In addition to these closing costs you will incur charges for Home Owners Insurance, Tax Escrows, Insurance Escrows, Interest Adjustment (the interest charges for the days that you have the loan in the month that you close) and if they are required Mortgage Insurance Premiums and Flood Insurance.
As you can see, closing costs and pre-paids can vary greatly and can be very confusing. The best way to get a handle on them is to work with your agent and the loan officer to help you to structure your transaction in such a manner as is most advantageous to you.
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