Let INTEGRITY APPRAISERS help you decide if you can get rid of your PMIWhen purchasing a home, a 20% down payment is typically the standard. Since the liability for the lender is oftentimes only the difference between the home value and the sum outstanding on the loan, the 20% adds a nice cushion against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and typical value changesin the event a borrower defaults. The market was taking down payments down to 10, 5 and often 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the mid 2000s. How does a lender endure the increased risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI covers the lender if a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the market price of the home is less than the loan balance. PMI can be pricey to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is compiled into the mortgage monthly payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. Unlike a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the damages, PMI is advantageous for the lender because they obtain the money, and they get the money 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 a homeowner refrain from bearing the cost of PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically eliminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the primary loan amount. Savvy home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected. The law promises that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. It can take many years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount borrowed, so 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% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be minding the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends predict falling home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The toughest thing for many home owners to know is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. It's an appraiser's job to keep up with the market dynamics of their area. At INTEGRITY APPRAISERS, we're experts at identifying value trends in St. Louis, Saint Louis County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. When faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often cancel the PMI with little trouble. At which time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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