Regarding Z-homing being last - usually endstop positions are on Z-, not Z+, so they do a bit of a hop (2-10mm upwards Z) before the X and Y homing so they don't crash the head. If your Z endstop is on Z-, you can home that first since you know the head is out of the way.

EDIT: to be specific, this is for "bed-slinger" printers, but the concept is the same for fixed height tool head printers (eg where the bed is what's raised and lowered).