This fall we can expect a moderate rush of first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the tax credit that expires Nov. 30. If you are a home-buying newbie, here are a few tips and warnings along with some things I wish I had known before I bought a house:

New law may delay closing

A brand new law, the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act, may throw your tightly planned closing date a curveball. The new law says that if there are any additional costs that affect your APR, such as a termite inspection fee, a new Truth in Lending statement will need to be issued, and you must get it a week before closing. That means last-minute charges would reset the closing date.

What if you see a broken door during your final walk-through and ask the seller for $200 the day before closing?

"I think attorneys will find a way around that," said Peter Thompson, senior loan officer with WinTrust Mortgage in Downers Grove. "We are still waiting to find out if little charges will affect the statement. This is one of those things that are meant for consumer protection and ... this will be rocky until everyone -- the lenders, title insurance companies and attorneys -- get used to this."

Since the rule just went into effect July 31, no closings have yet been affected, but don't let this one trip you up. Hire an experienced attorney to help you close and don't wait until the last minute to complete your transaction.

"Many borrowers are anticipating the down payment, but in addition to the down payment we will need to cover bank closing costs, title charges, the city of Chicago transfer tax, attorney fees, home inspection fees and money to set up the escrows," said Thompson.

Typically all those costs will run several thousand dollars more.

"This is one of the reasons it is so important for buyers to talk with a loan officer and get pre-approved before they start looking," he said. "If they understand their situation upfront, they can negotiate for the seller to pay the closing costs and they won't have to come up with the cash out of their own pockets." (FHA will allow up to 6 percent of the purchase price as a seller concession -- much more than what is needed.)

Condos might be complicated

Many first-time buyers are looking at condos, but a condo purchase is not as simple as buying a detached property.

"With condos we are not only approving the borrower, but also the building," Thompson said. "Many properties are no longer eligible for conventional financing. FHA spot loans can be a good alternative, but the buildings have to fit within the guidelines. When I have a client who is looking at a particular building, I try and get the condo questionnaire out before they make an offer. If there is an issue with the building's approval, we need to know this upfront, rather than spend time and money on an appraisal only to find that the property doesn't meet the guidelines."

The $8,000 federal tax credit gets all the glory, but there's another process by which moderate income, first-time buyers can get a tax break. The federal government's Mortgage Credit Certificate program lets qualified buyers use 20 percent of their annual mortgage interest as a tax credit.

It's called an I-loan or Mortgage Credit Certificate. In the example given on the Illinois Housing Development Authority's Web site (www.ihda.org), a buyer with an income of $45,000 takes out a $150,000 loan at 6.5 percent interest and saves $1,649 on his federal taxes the first year. Over the life of a 30-year loan, it saves the buyer $38,000.

Your aunt's best friend may be a Realtor, but she may not be the best Realtor for you. So many people decide to use a relative or a friend of a friend when looking for a home or selling one, but that is not always a good thing. Yes, Realtors depend on referrals, but use real referrals -- from people who were happy with their service, not just someone who is their neighbor or fellow church member. Tell your aunt's friend you are interviewing three Realtors; she'll understand. Then pick the best one.

They don't want you to know this, but that 6 or 7 percent commission is not carved in stone. If you are a buyer working with a Realtor, you can ask if there is wiggle room, especially when you are looking at homes in the higher price brackets. Realtors will tell you that the seller pays all the broker fees. But think about it: who is paying the seller? You.

But there may not be as much wiggle room as you think.

For example, in a transaction with a 6 percent Realtor fee, here's how it could break down (fees and splits vary from one office to another): Assuming the seller is also represented by a Realtor, the two agents split the fee. Each takes 3 percent back to his office and splits that with the office.

Where you should have real room to negotiate is if you are not working with an agent, but happen upon a house for sale that is represented by an agent. If you don't negotiate, that selling agent will earn the whole  fee. (Of course, for sale by owners have no Realtor fees but you will have to be a very savvy buyer to know whether or not they have priced their home well.)

Occasionally you will agree to a mortgage rate that is not honored at the last minute. If you see that the settlement statement has a different mortgage rate, or that anything else is wrong, you do not have to close that day.

Yes, it will be a pain in the you know where if you don't close. There's that first-time buyers tax credit looming. And I totally understand -- you have all the furniture in a moving truck and are paying by the minute for the truck and Johnny has to start school and the cat has no food and the overwhelming stress has made you physically ill. But everyone wants to close, and all the parties involved will work hard to make it happen.

At your first closing, you could be overwhelmed by the high stack of papers and the shuffling of said papers around the table as you are constantly asked to sign. You might wonder, "Am I signing away my first born child?" After our first closing, I had the worst headache I had ever had in my life.

My husband and I stumbled away from the signing table, clutching the tarnished key we had been given, and drove over to our new house, only to discover that the key did not work. We sat in the back yard and looked at the place we would raise our children, if we could only get inside. We had brought a bottle of champagne, but were too exhausted to drink it. Eventually the seller brought over the right keys and we got inside.

Perhaps for reasons like those, it has become standard practice in the Chicago area to hire a real estate attorney to handle your closing. We have never closed without one. It is nice to have someone on your side at that signing table, since, as they will usually tell you, not even the Realtor that showed you all those houses is representing you.

An attorney will explain what every signature means, will review those papers ahead of time and presumably make sure all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed.

Kay Severinsen is editor of SearchChicago-Homes.