Too many homebuyers don't hunt for the lowest mortgage rate. They spend weeks, sometimes months, looking for a house. But when it comes to shopping around for a loan, they don't bother.

More than a third of all borrowers -- both first-timers and repeat buyers -- don't look beyond the first lender they consult, according to a recent survey by Fannie Mae. They either feel most comfortable with that lender or they are satisfied with that lender's quote.

That's too bad, because they might have saved some serious money had they shopped around.

LendingTree, the lender-matching service, says borrowers who search for the best rate and terms save an average of $63,151 over the life of a 30-year loan. That savings works out to $175 a month. Even if you don't actually hold the loan for 30 years, which most people don't, you'd save $21,000 over a decade.

LendingTree's research also finds that 56% of all borrowers accept the first offer they receive from a lender, and of those, 48% believe they received the best rate available. At the same time, of those who did compare rates, 46% said the first quote they received was not the lowest.

But the mortgage is only the half of it. Other Fannie Mae research shows that the mortgage payment only represents about 50% of homeowners' monthly housing costs. Costs like utilities, property taxes, insurance, maintenance and improvement expenses collectively account for the other half.

To get precise, the loan itself is about 30% of your monthly payment, Fannie Mae found, with the other 20% relating to transaction fees paid at closing. Those are largely made up of commissions, but also include loan origination fees, appraisals, credit reports, title reports, title insurance, settlement charges and local transaction taxes and recordation fees.

For what it's worth, many transaction fees are negotiable. Savings are available if you are willing to do the legwork.

But what about those ongoing costs? The typical owner spends $15,405 a year on them, Clever Real Estate reported about a year ago -- and undoubtedly, these costs have gone up since the study was released.

An update is due out in a month or so, but for now, let's break down Clever's most recent findings:

-- Property taxes. These are the main source of revenue for most jurisdictions. What you pay depends on the value of your house and where you live. They run from a high of $8,432 in New Jersey to a low of $609 in Alabama. The average nationally is $2,578, or almost $215 a month.

-- Utilities. This is the biggest subcategory of an owner's monthly outlay, adding up to $4,829 a year. That's much more than renters, largely because some landlords cover at least some of their occupants' utilities. Another reason: Houses tend to be larger than apartments, so they are more expensive to heat, cool and energize.

Monthly, the average cost of utilities is $402 a month.

-- Maintenance. This broad category covers almost everything: from painting to plumbing, electrical work to appliance repair. And some repairs, like replacing a roof or addressing structural deficiencies, cost far more than changing out a water heater.

Overall, the average spent on maintenance and repairs is $3,018, Clever found. But probably 33% of the respondents paid more than that -- $5,000 or more.

There are also recurring maintenance services to consider. Many owners do their own cleaning and mowing, but 4 out of 5 hire help for at least some ongoing services. The most common are pest control, landscaping, housekeeping and tree trimming.

Another aspect of this is time. Only you know what your time is worth, but on average, owners spend 230 hours a year taking care of their homes. That's about 19 hours a month -- almost a full day.

-- Insurance. Every lender requires borrowers to carry homeowner's insurance, and some even demand they take out another policy to cover floods. Even if you aren't compelled to carry both, you should. Clever says the average is $1,680 annually for an owner's policy, or $140 a month. That's a small price to pay to protect what's likely your greatest asset. Flood insurance is extra, but also worth the cost.

If you put down less than 20% of the purchase price, you'll also have to pay for mortgage insurance to protect the lender in case you default.

-- Association fees. Nearly 80% of the new houses built in 2021 were in communities run by the homeowners who live there. If you live in a place governed by an association, you'll pay a membership fee that covers the cost of maintaining amenities, streets, landscaping and other public features. Depending on the facilities -- golf, pools, tennis courts -- the cost is up there.

-- Improvements. Not everyone takes on a remodel or an addition, but those who do tend to spend big. Clever found that 35% spend more than $5,000 a year on flooring, windows and other alterations.

-- Emergencies. Everyone, homeowner or not, should have something tucked away for a rainy day. Unfortunately, more than half of the owners queried would have to borrow money to cover a $5,000 emergency. About a third of those would have to use a credit card.

About 20% of those surveyed had put away $1,000 or less in an emergency fund. But 43% had enough on hand to cover a $5,000 calamity.

Many of the nation's largest real estate firms still do not publish the share of the commission paid to agents who work with homebuyers, leaving buyers to fend for themselves.

Buyers can sometimes get a better deal when they know in advance what their so-called buy-side agents are being paid, says Stephen Brobeck of the Consumer Federation of America. If you know your agent's cut, it's possible to bargain for a lower rate or even ask for a rebate at closing. But if you have no clue what they're being paid, you are going into the transaction with blinders on.

Perhaps more importantly, if you understand who gets what, you can avoid being shown only the houses with the highest commission rates.

"Steering is the real problem," Brobeck told me. "'Steered' consumers may not be shown homes they would have preferred and end up paying higher commissions that are effectively added to the sale price of homes."

In a typical real estate transaction, the commission is split 50-50 between the brokerage firms where the listing agent and the selling agent work. Then, each brokerage pays a share of its take to their respective agents.

Most sellers know what their costs will be. But buyers rarely, if ever, ask -- even though it's their money that is disbursed at closing. It's their money because the commission is paid as a percentage of the purchase price, which the buyer pays.

Another reason you should know what your agent takes from the sale: Your agent should be working for you. If they do not have your best interests at heart, maybe they shouldn't be paid as much as someone who does.

In late 2021, the nation's 600 or so multiple listing services were required by the National Association of Realtors to allow MLS participants to publish the compensation offered to buyer's agents on all home listings.

The new rule was, in part, a response to criticism that by not publishing commission splits, agents were given a green light to steer buyers away from low-commission properties in favor of high-commission ones. Not all agents engage in this unethical practice, but enough do that it is a problem -- one recognized by the Federal Trade Commission as far back as 1983.

In his latest report, Brobeck says that even though some firms and listing-aggregate portals now allow splits to be published, few brokerages do so. Only Redfin "predominately publishes" buy-side rates on the houses carried on its site, Brobeck's research found. Redfin, for what it's worth, is primarily a discount broker.

Zillow, Keller Williams and Better Homes and Gardens show rates for only about half the houses on their sites, largely because local MLSs don't publish them, according to the report. And major firms like Century 21, Berkshire Hathaway, Sotheby's, Compass, Howard Hanna, Long and Foster, Crye-Leike and Realty One rarely, if ever, note buy-side commission rates.

Unfortunately, knowing what your agent earns for helping you find a house and making sure the sale goes through isn't likely to increase price competition, Brobeck explains, because splits are coupled together in one rate. He has been a major advocate for the uncoupling of commission rates.

Buyers should have the same ability to negotiate commissions with their own agents that sellers have with theirs, Brobeck says. "Untying commissions would allow buyers to negotiate rates, encourage sellers to do the same and provide new opportunities for discount brokers to market their services."

Two major lawsuits against the NAR are challenging the practice of tying rates together. Until that decoupling occurs, if it ever does, homebuyers should always look at the listing to find what share of the sales commission their agents are earning. If you can't find that percentage, ask your agent -- and don't settle for "half" as an answer. Half of what?

If your agent still balks, you can "almost always" find what you need to know on Redfin's property listings, says Brobeck.

Armed with that information, you can check to see if your agent discourages you from visiting properties where their cut is smaller. And if the percentage seems high, you can inquire whether a portion of it can be rebated to you. (Note: Nine states still outlaw such rebates.)

If buyer's agent rates were easily available to homebuyers, the CFA report says, "buyers might wonder or even question agents' reluctance to show buyers low-commission properties. Moreover, informed buyers could insist that these properties be shown."

The key message is this, says Brobeck: "Learn the commission rate offered to agents on any property of great interest to you. And talk to your agent about the possibility of a partial rebate of this commission to you."

Property taxes are rising right along with the cost of food, gas and other necessities. One main difference: You won't have to wait for inflation to come down to lower your property taxes. And you can do it all yourself.

"Most people are under-assessed, but the market is changing," says Alison Tulio of Incenter Tax Solutions, a company that appeals property tax assessments on behalf of homeowners. The company works with a network of 10,000 local appraisers and attorneys across the country. "Values are declining, which means more and more people will (soon) be over-assessed. That's when you can appeal."

It's not hard to protest your tax: Just follow the instructions that come along with your tax bill. I once did it.

All I had to do was find out which houses were being used by the local assessor's office as comparables for mine. Then I went to these houses, giving each of them a once-over to determine how they differed from my place. (I couldn't get inside, of course -- didn't even try -- but the exterior differences were enough to make my case.)

Once equipped with my list, I made an appointment to discuss my findings on the phone. The woman on the call was very nice, listened to me politely, asked a few questions and said I'd be hearing from her office in due course.

A few weeks later, I received a letter telling me the assessment had been lowered. I don't remember by how much, but it was sizable enough for me to think it was well worth the little bit of time and trouble I put in.

If you're too busy to do the spade work yourself, there are companies that help people object to their high tax bills. They'll do the research and make the case on your behalf, following the rules of your county.

What's more, they claim an extremely high success rate. Since it launched in 2021, Incenter claims a 93% success rate for residential appeals and 98% winning percentage for commercial properties. The company says that last year, it cut its residential clients' tax bills by about $4,000, on average.

Of course, there's a fee involved. In Incenter's case, there's no charge to review a case and no charge if the appeal is not successful. If the company wins your case, though, you owe half of the first year's savings. Every year after that, the savings are all yours because your house will continue to be taxed at a lower figure until it's reassessed.

There are plenty of local outfits that will appeal your property tax, including some lenders and real estate brokers. Tulio herself appealed tariffs for hundreds of property owners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey before becoming Incenter's president. But her company is one of the few national firms offering the service.

Again, though, you can always file an appeal on your own. Tulio says it is incumbent upon all homeowners to check their tax bills every year. If you think you were over-assessed, you should file an appeal, with or without professional help.

Unfortunately, in Tulio's experience, most people don't. Many just don't bother, she told me, and some miss the deadline. But others are intimidated by the process or don't know what evidence they need.

Usually, the rules are pretty cut and dry. But no one tells you how to prepare, Tulio warns. That's where the professionals come in.

"It's scary to attend a hearing," she says, "and if you don't know what you're doing, if you don't present the right information, you can open up yourself to a higher assessment. It's not a game people want to be playing."

If you decide to go it alone, pay attention to the appeals deadline. You may have only a few weeks to get your ducks in a row. Next, determine how your property is assessed. This process varies among local tax authorities, but most use a percentage of the assessed value to calculate the tax. So if your house is assessed at $500,000, and the assessor bases the tax on 75% of the value, the tax will be for a $375,000 property.

"There are two numbers involved: assessed market value and actual market value," Tulio explains. "If your actual market value is lower than the assessed market value, you are over-assessed and should appeal."

Now check for mistakes in the tax documents. Is the square footage correct? Number of bedrooms and baths? Do the records show you have a garage when you don't? Look for errors online or by going to the assessor's office. Discovering a major error could result in cutting your tax bill without having to appeal.

The next step is to compare your property to others like it in your neighborhood. Talk to your neighbors to see what they are paying. You may be getting off cheap, or you could be paying too much. And look for recent sales in your neighborhood to see if values are still on the upswing, holding steady or declining.

Finally, when you file, arm yourself with photos, repair estimates if applicable, and perhaps even blueprints. Anything to support your case.

If you win your case, the savings won't just be for the current year. You'll pocket the difference at least until the next assessment -- which could be three, four or five years away.