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"Given how easy it is to get skinned on a mortgage deal, it's amazing anyone ever buys a home," says Liz Pulliam Weston, personal finance columnist for MSN Money.

"But buy we do - and then refinance, and refinance again. Our ignorance of how the mortgage process works and the many ways mortgage pros rig the system in their favor lead many of us to pay far more than we should."

Taking Ms. Weston's comments into consideration, here is the key information from a former senior loan officer that mortgage lenders don't want borrowers to know:

The Top 10 Mortgage Mistakes Borrowers Make

1. Not knowing which mortgage fees the borrower can - and cannot - negotiate. Or how the lender actually makes money. (Without this understanding the borrower could overspend by thousands of dollars . . . in mere seconds.)

2. Choosing and trusting the first loan officer the borrower interviews.

3. Using an interest-only or "payment option" adjustable-rate loan primarily to qualify for a more expensive house. (This is the main current concern of mortgage regulators. The borrower could be paying on the mortgage forever, eventually getting in debt over his or her head or, at the very least, he or she will pay more interest for a longer period of time.)

4. Thinking the interest rate is always the main thing. (Most "astute" mortgage shoppers think they should call around to "shop" rates. And "rate envy" is common, especially among male borrowers. But what closing costs will one need to pay to get that fabulous advertised rate?)

5. Not comparing the final fees listed on the closing documents to the up-front estimates (to avoid the lender "packing" the loan with added-on fees without the borrower's knowledge).

6. Not knowing if the mortgage has a pre-payment penalty - until it's too late.

7. Thinking that renting is always "just throwing money away." (At least in the short run, it can cost thousands less to rent. For instance, don't buy a starter house.)

8. The borrower does not know if he or she is paying a back-end yield spread or Service Release Premium (if so, the lender has just upsold the rate).

9. Paying for mortgage life insurance, credit insurance or other expensive lender add-ons (like the just-mentioned Service Release Premium, this sale can increase the "kickbacks" the lender will receive from various vendors).

10. Paying hundreds of dollars to have a company set up a biweekly mortgage payment plan, something the borrower can generally do for herself or himself - for free.

From a newly-released book, "Kickback: Confessions of a Mortgage Salesman, How to Save $1,000s on Your Mortgage," Insight Publishing. The author, Ted Janusz, is a former senior loan officer of a regional mortgage bank and wrote the book as his "penance." Janusz earned his MBA in Marketing from the University of Pittsburgh and his BS in Accounting from Slippery Rock University. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and the International Speakers Network. Janusz now conducts seminars across America for National Seminars Group and for eBay.

Learn more about this author, Ted Janusz.
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