Let ASAP Appraisal Group help you decide if you can get rid of your PMIA 20% down payment is typically the standard when purchasing a home. Because the risk for the lender is often only the difference between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, the 20% adds a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value variationsin the event a borrower defaults. Banks were working with down payments down to 10, 5 and even 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the mid 2000s. A lender is able to handle the increased risk of the low down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI covers the lender in case a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the worth of the property is less than what the borrower still owes on the loan. PMI can be costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. Opposite from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the losses, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they collect the money, and they get the money if the borrower is unable to pay. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How homeowners can prevent bearing the cost of PMIThe Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 makes the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically eliminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the initial loan amount. Acute home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected. The law pledges that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. It can take many years to get to the point where the principal is only 20% of the initial amount of the loan, so it's necessary to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards dismissing PMI. So why pay it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood might not be reflecting the national trends and/or your home might have acquired equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends forecast plummeting home values, you should understand that real estate is local. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can help home owners understand just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point, as it's a tough thing to know. It is an appraiser's job to recognize the market dynamics of their area. At ASAP Appraisal Group, we're masters at determining value trends in Lakeland, Polk 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 generally do away with the PMI with little effort. At that time, the homeowner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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