Lynch Appraisals can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceA 20% down payment is usually accepted when getting a mortgage. Considering the liability for the lender is usually only the difference between the home value and the sum due on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the charges of foreclosure, selling the home again, and natural value variationsin the event a borrower doesn't pay. During the recent mortgage boom of the last decade, it became common to see lenders commanding down payments of 10, 5 or sometimes 0 percent. A lender is able to handle the increased risk of the minimal 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 value of the home is lower than what is owed on the loan. PMI can be pricey to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage payment and many times isn't even tax deductible. It's money-making for the lender because they collect the money, and they get paid if the borrower doesn't pay, separate from a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the deficits. ![]() Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can home owners prevent paying PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 makes the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically cease the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. The law guarantees that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount reaches just 80 percent. So, keen homeowners can get off the hook sooner than expected. Since it can take countless years to reach the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount of the loan, it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, any appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards abolishing PMI. So why pay it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood may not be reflecting the national trends and/or your home might have acquired equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends forecast decreasing home values, you should realize that real estate is local. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can help homeowners understand just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point, as it's a hard thing to know. It's an appraiser's job to know the market dynamics of their area. At Lynch Appraisals, we're masters at determining value trends in Estill Springs, Franklin County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often remove the PMI with little anxiety. At that time, the homeowner can relish the savings from that point on.
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