WICHITA, Kansas, Feb 18, 2008 -- When it's time to buy or refinance a house, it's time to borrow -- and borrow big. But borrowing big means big mistakes are also possible, like paying too much in interest rates and too much in fees.

"85% of home loans -- 85% -- have inflated interest rates and junk fees in them," said Robert Pessemier, author, "Top Five Money Mistakes".

Bob Pessemier is a mortgage broker who also operates a service that goes over your mortgage estimate and tells you if your rate is right and your fees are frivolous. His suggestion for finding the lowest rate? Make sure it's at par.

"Par means, essentially, just the list price of the loan given a certain credit score and certain basic parameters of the loan. But ask for the loan and make sure it's at par."

That can help you make sure your rate is not inflated.

You also need to make sure the fees you're paying are reasonable.

"We had one client recently who, on their loan, they were going to be charged $16,000 in fees. We got that knocked down to $4,000 in fees and got the interest rate reduced from 8 to 6½%."

Fighting fees means doing what Robert does: Going over each and every one and lowering or eliminating them by pitting lenders against one another. It could be the most valuable time you ever spend.

Lenders know you are going to be confused by the paperwork blizzard when you borrow. Stop, look at the paper and ask questions. If you feel like you are getting pushed around, push back.