Mortgage lenders are more or less accurate when they estimate the closing costs that borrowers have to pay. But almost twice as many homeowners say they ended up paying more than estimated, rather than less.

In a poll of 1,005 adult Americans commissioned by Bankrate.com, 13 percent of homeowners said they paid more at the closing table than the lender had led them to expect. On the other hand, 8 percent of homeowners say they got a pleasant surprise when the closing costs came in less than estimated.

A healthy majority of 60 percent said the closing costs were about the same as estimated. The rest didn't remember or didn't respond; presumably, they would have found it memorable if they had been unpleasantly surprised by the amounts of their closing costs.

How closing estimates work
When you apply for a mortgage, you are entitled to at least two estimates of closing costs. The first comes within three working days of accepting your application, when the lender or broker should give you a good faith estimate of closing costs, usually called a GFE for short. It itemizes the estimated fees and taxes you will pay. They can be broken into three categories: fees charged by the lender, fees and taxes charged by third parties, and recurring items such as property taxes, insurance, homeowner association fees and mortgage interest.

The GFE is an estimate. Inaccuracies are inevitable because the process of buying a house and getting a mortgage is long and complex, and a lot of third parties are involved. With the GFE, the lender is guessing the amounts that other businesses will charge. You might be able to get more accurate and complete estimates after the settlement agent (a lawyer, or a title or escrow agency) starts working on it.

Within 24 hours of going to the settlement table, you are entitled to a copy of the HUD-1 statement, which lists the itemized charges as accurately as possible. If you're lucky, it will be correct to the penny when you sit down to sign all those documents and checks. If your experience is like a lot of people's, the HUD-1 won't be perfect, but it will be close enough so that you won't feel ripped off. If it's not your day, the HUD-1 will be way off and you'll write checks for amounts far greater than you expected.

Off by a little or a lot
Of the poll respondents who said they paid more or less in closing costs than they expected, a little more than half said the inaccuracy was $1,000 or less. About one-quarter said the amount was between $1,001 and $10,000. Some 17 percent didn't remember.

The average closing costs in this year's Bankrate research study totaled $3,024, yet 4 percent of respondents who said their estimates were off were more than $10,000 off. Respondents were asked to supply a number and weren't given ranges of numbers to choose from.

Bankrate commissioned the poll, which was conducted July 21 to 23 by Roper Public Affairs & Media, a part of GfK NOP. A total of 1,005 interviews were conducted among adults 18 and older across the United States. The margin of error for results based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.  The margin of error for subgroups might be higher.