Firedancer Appraisals can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceWhen purchasing a home, a 20% down payment is typically the standard. Since the liability for the lender is generally only the difference between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, the 20% provides a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, reselling the home, and regular value variationsin the event a borrower defaults. Banks were accepting down payments as low as 10, 5 and even 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the last decade. A lender is able to endure the additional risk of the low down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI guards the lender if a borrower defaults on the loan and the market price of the house is less than the loan balance. PMI is costly to a borrower on the grounds that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. Unlike a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the damages, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they obtain the money, and they receive payment if the borrower doesn't pay. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can home buyers keep from paying PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on most loans to automatically eliminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. The law pledges that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, keen home owners can get off the hook ahead of time. Because it can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount borrowed, it's necessary to know how your home has grown in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've accomplished over the years counts towards removing 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 could have secured equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends indicate 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 difficult thing to know. As appraisers, it's our job to know the market dynamics of our area. At Firedancer Appraisals, we're experts at pinpointing value trends in Matthews, Union County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often eliminate the PMI with little anxiety. At that time, the home owner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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