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Negotiate with the seller to work out the precise details of your earnest money deposits.

#8: Get a clue about cash to close.

There are few matters in real estate as mysterious as the concept of the cash a homebuyer needs to close escrow. Your down payment is only one of the chunks of change you need to have on hand to get the keys to your new home. Before you even get pre-approved, know how deeply you'll have to dig to do the deal.

The importance of being earnest. When you first make an offer on a home, you'll need to come up with an earnest money deposit -- 1 percent of your offer price is about the norm. Funny name, but descriptive -- this dough just tells the seller that you are serious or in earnest about buying their home. You're communicating that they should take you seriously enough to pull their place off the market while you do your inspections, appraisal and loan underwriting.

Depending on your contract, you might need to increase your deposit when you remove your contingencies or your objection period expires -- a 2 percent increase is not uncommon, though this varies widely depending on the contract, standard local practices and the property's price point. The precise details of your earnest money deposits are negotiable with the seller.

The best part about earnest money deposits? If the deal goes as planned, the money goes into your escrow account, not to the seller. Then, when you close escrow it is credited toward your closing costs and down payment. The worst part? In many states, if you back out of the deal after removing contingencies or waiving objections, you forfeit that money to the seller.

Down by the buy. Be careful not to confuse your deposits with your down payment -- your down payment is the difference between the purchase price and your mortgage amount. And it has nothing to do with the seller -- this is all about your agreement with your lender, as your down payment has a major impact on whether you qualify, on your interest rate and on your monthly payment.

To your credit -- closing cost credit, that is. Every business deal costs money to do, and buying your home is no exception. Your closing costs include line items like your loan origination fee, title insurance, escrow services and even taxes some areas charge every time a property changes hands -- and they all have to get paid before you can close. More and more, sellers are agreeing to pay closing cost credits, literally funds that come out of the sale price and are credited to your account at closing to defray your expenses. Closing costs range anywhere from about 2 percent to 5 percent of the purchase price, with FHA loans incurring costs on the higher end of the range and high-priced properties coming in at the lower end.

The million dollar question is how these three elements of cash to close relate to one another. Here's the pleasant surprise -- you may not have to come up with deposit money, plus down payment money, plus closing cost money, especially if you negotiate a seller closing cost credit. At closing, the escrow holder draws up a balance sheet listing all the debits and credits to your account. The price you agreed to pay and your closing costs go on the debit side, but your earnest money deposit, the loan money from your lender and any closing cost credits the seller agreed to go on the credit side. Subtract, and you get the amount you need to bring in to get your keys.

So, for example, if you put down a 3 percent deposit, got a 3 percent closing cost credit, incurred 3 percent closing costs and want to make a 3.5 percent down payment -- you'd only need to bring in a half of 1 percent to close. Without the closing cost credit from the seller, though, you'd need to bring in 3.5 percent at closing in order to seal the deal. With cash to close, it all comes out in the wash. Real estate mystery: solved!

NEXT: #7: Pick the right mortgage pro for your situation >>

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