360 Market Real Estate Valuations, LLC can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceWhen purchasing a home, a 20% down payment is usually the standard. The lender's risk is often only the remainder between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, selling the home again, and natural value fluctuations on the chance that a purchaser defaults. During the recent mortgage boom of the mid 2000s, it became common to see lenders taking down payments of 10, 5 or often 0 percent. How does a lender manage the additional risk of the low down payment? The solution is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added plan covers the lender in the event a borrower defaults on the loan and the market price of the property is less than the balance of the loan. Since the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage monthly payment and generally isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be expensive to a borrower. Different from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the losses, PMI is money-making for the lender because they obtain the money, and they receive payment if the borrower defaults. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can homebuyers refrain from bearing the cost of PMI?With the utilization of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are forced to automatically eliminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. The law designates that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, keen homeowners can get off the hook ahead of time. It can take many years to reach the point where the principal is only 20% of the initial amount borrowed, so it's necessary to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards removing PMI. So why pay it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be heeding the national trends and/or your home could have gained equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends hint at decreasing home values, you should realize that real estate is local. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can help home owners understand just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point, as it's a difficult thing to know. As appraisers, it's our job to recognize the market dynamics of our area. At 360 Market Real Estate Valuations, LLC, we're masters at pinpointing value trends in Winnsboro, 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 generally drop the PMI with little effort. At that time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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