I like knowing what something will cost before I commit to it. I’ll bet you do, too. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has revised some home-loan rules that attempt to give us what we want.

Starting this year, mortgage lenders and brokers must provide borrowers a standardized Good Faith Estimate form. The GFE lists terms, timelines, and amounts for several key aspects of a loan.

The new Good Faith Estimate also specifies which charges are set in stone, which ones can increase as much as 10% at the closing, and which items can vary by any amount. The standardized version of this form not only clearly presents your costs, it makes it easier to compare loans to one another.

When you actually close on your house, you’ll receive another form called the HUD-1. This form gives you the ability to compare the charges to what was listed on your GFE. The HUD-1 even refers to specific line numbers from the Good Faith Estimate and provides a side-by-side comparison.

While these new forms will help you better understand your loan, I recently heard one caveat from a real estate attorney. He advised that buyers should not attempt to rush the period between signing a contract on a house and closing the deal. Lenders are still working out a few kinks in the rules associated with the forms. Pushing for a quick closing could create problems in meeting key deadlines.

You can view the Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1 on the HUD Web site. If you have any questions about them, your Texas REALTOR® can help.