Astute Appraisals, Inc. can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceIt's typically known that a 20% down payment is common when getting a mortgage. Since the liability for the lender is generally only the difference between the home value and the sum due on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice cushion against the costs of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value fluctuationsin the event a borrower is unable to pay. The market was working with down payments down to 10, 5 and even 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. A lender is able to endure the increased risk of the reduced down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI protects the lender in the event a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the worth of the house is less than the balance of the loan. PMI is costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage monthly payment and oftentimes isn't even tax deductible. Contradictory to a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the deficits, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they acquire the money, and they receive payment if the borrower defaults. ![]() Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can a home owner avoid paying PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 forces the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically terminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. Acute home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected. The law stipulates that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. It can take countless years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the original loan amount, so it's necessary to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after the balance of your loan has fallen below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood might not be minding the national trends and/or your home may have acquired equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends signify decreasing home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The hardest thing for almost all home owners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can certainly help. It is an appraiser's job to know the market dynamics of their area. At Astute Appraisals, Inc., we know when property values have risen or declined. We're masters at pinpointing value trends in Columbia, Howard County and surrounding areas. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often do away with the PMI with little anxiety. At which time, the home owner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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