Clarification/Follow-up by tarot10 on 05/24/05 5:45 am:
I refinanced less than a year ago and I was expected to have everything paid up to date. I think this is a way to finance a bigger loan so they can get more interest out of you. In my case, I had already paid my homeowners insurance and property taxes so I didn't finance any of those things. I think it's up to the lender to determine how flexible they want to be depending on how much business they NEED to attract.

Call around and ask what kind of closing costs you will have and what is on the list.

They must give you an estimate of your expenses before escrow closes. Make sure to look at it very closely and then compare it to the final one. There should be no big discrepencies between the first one and the second one.