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Let us help you every step of the way.

What's the most confusing part about buying a home? Having to learn words like "escrow"? Fixed rate loans that
also adjust? Or is it the closing process?

We help many of people a year buy homes. And we can help you. Click a title on the left for a look at the topics
available. Then click a topic to go to the information.

Here's a quick overview of what you'll find in each section.

Home Buying Guide
Learn about the entire home-buying process, including advice on shopping for a home, the loan process, and
owning a home.

Financing Options
Get help selecting the right loan for you. And discover ways we can speed up the approval process.

Rates & Costs
Find today's rate for a specific loan and learn how you can protect it.

Calculators
Calculate everything from how much home you can afford to your approximate closing costs.

Loan Advisor
Have us help select the best loan for you with this simple tool.

Apply Now
Jump start the loan process by taking a few minutes to submit your information online. Easy, Really!

Find a Home
Begin your search by getting a realtor or builder.
Related Sites
Check out schools and other services in a neighborhood with these helpful links.

The Home Buying Process

For years people shopped for a home with a real estate agent and didn't involve the lender until after a house was
selected. Today, there's a much smarter way to shop. Get Cohen Financial Group involved with you and your agent
from the start.

Cohen Financial Group can help you determine how much home you can afford so you and your agent know your
price range right away. Plus we can:
Pre-approve you for a loan — a valuable negotiating tool when you're bidding on a home*

Here are six steps we recommend for selecting and purchasing a new home. Follow them and you'll enjoy a better
home buying experience. You'll be hanging curtains and arranging furniture in your new home a lot sooner.

Determine your price range
Get pre-approved for a loan
Select a real estate agent
Shop for a home
Make an offer
Complete the purchase

*Pre-approval subject to satisfactory appraisal and title review and no change in financial condition.

Determine your price range
Use our "How Much Home Can You Afford" Calculator to figure out the loan amount and home price you could likely
obtain from Cohen Financial Group based on today's rates and programs. Or contact us and have us do it for you.
Not even sure if you're ready to buy a home? See First-Time Home Buyer.

Get pre-approved for a loan
Decide how you'd like to work with us — in person, by phone or online. Then start by having us pre-approve you for
a loan.* A Countrywide UpFront Approval Certificate demonstrates to real estate agents and home sellers your
ability to buy homes within a certain price range. (Get pre-approved now.)

*UpFront approval subject to satisfactory appraisal and title review and no
change in financial condition.

Select a real estate agent
A real estate agent can help you throughout the buying process. What's more, since an agent's services are usually
paid through a commission from the seller, they don't cost you anything. A good agent will help you decide exactly
what you want in a home, what's essential and what's less important, learn your likes and dislikes, and save you
hours of fruitless searching. Agents are the first to know when new homes come on the market and can advise you
throughout the home-buying process. For help finding an agent, call 1-888-803-7334.

Shop for a home
Here's the fun part. But remember to be a critical buyer. This is going to be your home — possibly for years. Here
are some tips:
Look beyond the cosmetics. Make sure the most expensive things to repair or renovate, things like the structure,
plumbing, wiring, and heating and cooling system are all in good shape.

Do you like how the home feels? Is it you?

Drive around the neighborhood — is this an area you want to live? (Research businesses and other features of the
neighborhood with Map Blast. And get school reports at theschoolreport.com.*)

Are other homes around the one you're considering comparable in value? Avoid buying a home considerably more
valuable than neighboring homes — you may have trouble with the appraisal. You may also have trouble getting
your value out of the home when you want to sell.

Make an offer
Found a home? Decide what price you want to offer and present the price to the seller.
Use a standard form real estate purchase contract (your agent will provide this). The agreement will have important
clauses protecting you and the transaction.

In choosing a price, consider recent selling prices for comparable homes in the same area, how long the house
has been on the market, how hot or slow the market is, and whether the home needs any major repairs. (Your real
estate agent can help assess all these. You can also try homegain.com.*)

Show your Cohen Financial Approval Letter — it positions you as a highly
qualified buyer.**

See what closing costs the seller might be willing to pay. An eager seller may share more of them.

Be sure the purchase contract releases you without penalty if a home inspection turns up major problems or the
home doesn't appraise for the sales price.

Write a realistic closing date into the agreement. While our loan process can be very fast (see our 10 Day Close
Program), you'll need time for the home inspection and negotiations resulting from that.

If you need to sell your current home, try to make your contract conditional upon the sale of your house. If this
request is rejected, give yourself a later closing date.

Once your offer has been accepted, you'll need to provide earnest money. This is a cash deposit (several hundred
dollars to several thousand depending on the value of the home and the market) towards the down payment that
shows your commitment to buying the home.

*Cohen Financial Group provides this link for your convenience and is not responsible for content of or services
provided by this Web site.

** UpFront Approval subject to satisfactory appraisal and title review and no
change in financial condition.

Complete the purchase
If you completed step 2 and are pre-approved for a loan, you're almost there. The home simply needs to be
appraised and a few other details taken care of. You may be asked to provide your purchase agreement and other
support document within the next business day or two to your lender. With this information and your property
information, we're ready to process your loan. Haven't selected a lender?

Once your loan receives final approval, you're ready to close. See Close the
Loan for a complete description of what happens there.

Understand rates, points and APR

Interest rates, points, annual percentage rate (APR) … it can all seem confusing. But it's really all about making the
down payment and monthly payment fit you and your lifestyle. So let's look at how you can custom fit a rate to your
needs.

Know how interest rates affect your payment
The interest rate on a loan is used to calculate your monthly payment. The higher the interest rate, the higher your
monthly payment. The lower the interest rate, the lower your monthly payment. Simple? Yes, but abstract until you
see it applied to your loan. See our monthly payment calculator for a demonstration of how this works.

Lower your rate and payment with points.
Points are fees paid to the lender at closing. Each "point" is equal to 1% of the loan amount. For a $100,000 loan, a
point equals $1,000. Two points would be $2,000.

With many loans, you can lower the rate by paying more points. If you have the cash, it's a good way to save money
on interest over the life of your loan. See how points affect rates. If you're low on upfront cash, then go for fewer
points.

Use the APR to compare loans
Home loans are more than interest rates and points. They also involve other costs. The APR expresses the annual
cost of a loan as a percentage, factoring in not only its rate, but the points and other charges over the life of the loan.

The Truth-in-Lending law requires all advertisements for home loan credit terms include the APR. The APR is
intended to enable you to compare terms of loan products from different lenders.

To make an accurate comparison, compare loans with the same terms, interest rates and points. Then look at the
APR. The loan with the lower APR is the less expensive loan.

Lenders also provide the APR along with a loan's interest rate in the Truth in Lending Disclosure Statement. This
document will be mailed within 3 days after you submit an application. See Today's Rates to see right now what the
APR is for our loans.

Save cash with a "no origination fee" loan
Some lenders charge an origination fee to cover the administrative costs of processing a loan. If you haven't much
available cash beyond the down payment, you might want to look into a no origination fee loan.

Unlike many lenders, Cohen Financial Group doesn't charge an origination fee on conventional loans in most
states. On FHA loans, it's customary to charge an origination fee, but it can be added to your total loan amount and
included as part of your financing.

Now that I found my home, should I lock in the rate or let it float?
Ready to sign a contract? If you're afraid rates are headed up, protect your buying power by locking in the rate at the
time you apply for your loan.

What should you look for in a rate lock? Make sure it allows enough time for your loan to be processed. And get it in
writing. This is important because some lenders offer rate protection for just a week or 10 days — not long enough
for many loans or home sales to be completed. If you exceed the lock-in period and your rate expires, you may see
your loan rate go up.

Cohen Financial Group protects your rate for 45 days (60 days on FHA and VA loans). Plenty of time for processing
a loan. Longer rate locks are even available if you're building your home or need more time to close.

Think rates might drop while your loan is being processed? At the time of your application, take a risk and let it
"float" instead of locking. You can watch rates and lock in at any time until the day before your loan closes. The
moment you tell your lender to lock the rate, that's the rate you'll get. But be careful. Rates are as difficult to predict
as the stock market. And if rates suddenly shoot up, you could find yourself with a higher monthly payment than you
planned or, even worse, unable to afford the home of your dreams.

Cohen Financial Group has a huge selection of loans built to suit specific needs of our customers. Our home loan experts are
ready to help you find the loan that’s right for you! Contact us now to get a FREE, no obligation loan consultation