In other words, if the prepaids and escrows and title searches are going to cost approximately the same regardless of lender, which portions can tell me which lender is a better deal?

When someone gets a loan from a bank the bank creates both a credit (for the customer) and a debit (for the bank), the bank charges a little interest on top of that.

Depending on your tax situation, could you prepay enough expenses to offset the (prepaid) income?  

We just looked at a property yesterday and the current tenants pay their rent via direct debit.  

To get the true loan costs, we have to separate down payment, pre-paids (like interest <30 days, property taxes, hazard insurance) and escrow/title fees from the total.   

@Mitchell Behm We have multiple LLC's...each LLC holds multiple properties...all business checking and separated...I think my credit union calls each account a "share"...checks and a debit card for each account...this works well for our CPA as well...through Quickbooks.You don't necessarily have to go to the extent as referenced above to keep things independent, this is just the way we do it.And no to pay pal...though I have no idea if it's viable...seems to make sense.

@Paul SandhuAnd I was also wondering what is ABB doing with all that prepaid rent while they are holding it, in addition to collecting such a big fee from the guests. 

The Seller or family member will be debited your gift of equity on their side of the settlement statement and you'll be credited that gift as down payment.

This account is also a checking account with check book and debit card to access the equity as needed. 

Some tips would be:-save up down payment money-know your credit score and debit to income ratio-you will need 2 years of tax returns -you will need 2 months of bank statements-you will need to show 2 years of continuous employment in the same field -you will need a realtor who has experience or specializes in working with first time home buyers Hope that helps!