Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Timely Appraisal Services can help you get rid of your PMI.It's typically inferred that a 20% down payment is accepted when getting a mortgage. Because the risk for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the sum outstanding on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the expenses of foreclosure, reselling the home, and regular value changeson the chance that a borrower defaults. During the recent mortgage boom of the mid 2000s, it became widespread to see lenders commanding down payments of 10, 5 or even 0 percent. How does a lender endure the additional risk of the small down payment? The solution is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This supplemental plan covers the lender if a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the value of the property is lower than what is owed on the loan. PMI can be costly to a borrower on the grounds that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage payment and oftentimes isn't even tax deductible. Separate from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the costs, PMI is beneficial for the lender because they acquire the money, and they get the money 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 buyers avoid paying PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 forces the lenders on most loans to automatically stop the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the original loan amount. Savvy homeowners can get off the hook ahead of time. The law stipulates that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount equals only 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount of the loan, so it's important to know how your home has increased in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've achieved over time counts towards dismissing PMI. So why pay it after the balance of your loan has fallen below the 80% threshold? Even when nationwide trends predict falling home values, understand that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be heeding the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things calmed down. The hardest thing for most homeowners to know is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can surely help. As appraisers, it's our job to understand the market dynamics of our area. At Timely Appraisal Services, we're experts at analyzing value trends in Quinlan, Hunt County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually remove the PMI with little trouble. At which time, the homeowner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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