Let Heebner Appraisal Services help you discover if you can get rid of your PMI

A 20% down payment is typically accepted when buying a house. Because the liability for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, the 20% adds a nice buffer against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and typical value variationsin the event a purchaser is unable to pay.

During the recent mortgage upturn of the mid 2000s, it was customary to see lenders commanding down payments of 10, 5 or sometimes 0 percent. How does a lender endure the added risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI guards the lender in case a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the worth of the home is lower than what is owed on the loan.

Because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage payment and frequently isn't even tax deductible, PMI is costly to a borrower. It's money-making for the lender because they collect the money, and they receive payment if the borrower defaults, separate from a piggyback loan where the lender takes in 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 a homebuyer prevent paying PMI?

With the employment of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are obligated to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. Keen home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected. The law states that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals only 80 percent.

It can take many years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount of the loan, so it's important to know how your home has grown in value. After all, any appreciation you've accomplished over time counts towards removing PMI. So what's the reason for paying it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be following the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends predict plunging 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 surely help. As appraisers, it's our job to understand the market dynamics of our area. At Heebner Appraisal Services, we're experts at analyzing value trends in Porterville, Tulare County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. When faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often eliminate the PMI with little effort. At that time, the homeowner 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