Questions on closing costs - How can I lower them?

[Daniel Winsor]

This is the estimate I am planning on using for financing. This is one aspect of things I have NO knowledge of. I don't know what things are required, which are optional, etc. A couple things stand out to me:

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1.) $100 for a credit report?! That seems outrageous.

2.) Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium - What is this that costs over $6000?

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3.) Why can I shop for these things but not other things?

4.) HOW do I shop for these things?

5.) If I can lower these costs, is it enough to devote the time to?

6.) Is a survey really required? (I suppose they have owned the property since 1984 so probably not a bad idea.) But $700?! That seems like a LOT of money for what I can imagine isn't a full day of work for a person. 

7.) Title - Lender's Title Insurance - $4500 - What is this? Why is it so much money?

Prepaids - Most of these make sense but:

8.) Homeowner's Insurance premium (12 Month) - $6000 and Homeowner's Insurance (3 Month) - $1500: Am I paying insurance twice for those 3 months?

9.) Why am I prepaying interest? Why 15 days? Another estimate only has me paying 4 days - why is this?

Finally

10.) Seller's Credits - Where is this being allocated? Is this just something I should know - namely, what is usually paid by the buyer and what is paid by the seller?

I realize this is a ton of questions. This is a process that, even when I study, makes NO sense to me. I see some big numbers though, and I would be curious how I can lower them. I don't mind spending hours if we are lowering costs by hundreds of dollars (I don't make quite THAT much an hour!) and I would love to learn this stuff if I plan on getting serious (I do).

I appreciate any answers to these questions, or any directions to posts/books I can read up on to understand all this. I have to start the application process by the end of the week, so I have a couple days if need be. Thanks in advance!