Let Greenwich/Stamford Appraisal, LLC help you decide if you can cancel your PMIA 20% down payment is usually the standard when buying a house. Because the liability for the lender is usually only the difference between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, the 20% provides a nice buffer against the expenses of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value variationsin the event a purchaser defaults. During the recent mortgage upturn of the mid 2000s, it was common to see lenders requiring down payments of 10, 5 or often 0 percent. How does a lender endure the additional risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added plan protects the lender in the event a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the worth of the property is lower than the balance of the loan. PMI can be pricey to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is compiled into the mortgage payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. It's profitable for the lender because they acquire the money, and they get the money if the borrower defaults, different from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the costs. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can a homebuyer refrain from bearing the expense of PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on most loans to automatically stop the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. Acute home owners can get off the hook a little earlier. The law stipulates that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is only 20% of the original amount borrowed, so it's important to know how your home has grown in value. After all, any appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards removing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% mark? Even when nationwide trends indicate falling home values, understand that real estate is local. Your neighborhood might not be adhering to the national trends and/or your home might have acquired equity before things cooled off. The difficult thing for many home owners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. It is an appraiser's job to keep up with the market dynamics of their area. At Greenwich/Stamford Appraisal, LLC, we're masters at determining value trends in Stamford, Fairfield County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will generally eliminate the PMI with little anxiety. At which time, the home owner can enjoy the savings from that point on.
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