Let Robert Jones Appraisal Practice help you figure out if you can eliminate your PMI

A 20% down payment is typically accepted when purchasing a home. Since the liability for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the sum outstanding on the loan, the 20% provides a nice cushion against the costs of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value changeson the chance that a purchaser is unable to pay.

Lenders were taking down payments as low as 10, 5 and even 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the mid 2000s. How does a lender handle the additional risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI guards the lender in case a borrower defaults on the loan and the value of the home is lower than the balance of the loan.

PMI is costly to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage monthly payment and often isn't even tax deductible. It's favorable for the lender because they acquire the money, and they receive payment if the borrower doesn't pay, different from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the damages.

Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI.

How can buyers keep from paying PMI?

With the utilization of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on nearly all loans lenders are forced to automatically cease the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the original loan amount. The law promises that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, smart home owners can get off the hook a little early.

It can take countless years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial loan amount, so it's important to know how your home has increased in value. After all, any appreciation you've obtained over time counts towards removing PMI. So what's the reason for paying it after the balance of your loan has fallen below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be adopting the national trends and/or your home might have gained equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends signify plummeting home values, you should realize that real estate is local.

The difficult thing for most homeowners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can certainly help. It is an appraiser's job to know the market dynamics of their area. At Robert Jones Appraisal Practice, we're experts at determining value trends in Dallas, Paulding County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. When faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually remove the PMI with little anxiety. At that time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.

Want to learn more about PMI and the Homeowners Protection Act? Click this link:
Cancellation of Private Mortgage Insurance: Federal Law May Save You Hundreds of Dollars Each Year