Ralph Martin & Associates, Inc. can help you remove your Private Mortgage Insurance

A 20% down payment is typically accepted when purchasing a home. The lender's liability is oftentimes only the remainder between the home value and the amount outstanding on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, reselling the home, and typical value changes in the event a purchaser doesn't pay.

Banks were accepting down payments discounted to 10, 5 and frequently 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. A lender is able to manage the increased risk of the minimal down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added plan covers the lender if a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the market price of the home is lower than what the borrower still owes on the loan.

PMI is costly to a borrower on the grounds that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage monthly payment and many times isn't even tax deductible. As opposed to a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the damages, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they obtain the money, and they receive payment if the borrower defaults.


	Is PMI a lineitem in your monthly house payment? Call Ralph Martin & Associates, Inc. today at (305) 823-6984 or send us an e-mail. A new appraisal could save you thousands.

How homebuyers can avoid bearing the cost of PMI

With the passage of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, lenders are obligated to automatically terminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the original loan amount on most loans. The law states that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, acute home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected.

Since it can take a significant number of years to reach the point where the principal is just 80% of the initial amount of the loan, it's important to know how your Florida home has appreciated in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've accomplished over time counts towards dismissing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood may not follow national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things simmered down. So even when nationwide trends predict declining home values, you should understand that real estate is local.

A certified, Florida licensed real estate appraiser can help homeowners figure out just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point, as it's a difficult thing to know. Market dynamics and neighborhood-specific pricing trends are an appraiser's primary job! At Ralph Martin & Associates, Inc., we're masters at analyzing value trends in Miami Lakes, Miami-Dade County, and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often eliminate the PMI with little effort. At that time, the homeowner can enjoy the savings from that point on.


	The savings from getting rid of your PMI will make up for the cost of the appraisal in no time. Nobody is more qualified than Ralph Martin & Associates, Inc. when it comes to appreciating values in Miami Lakes and Miami-Dade County. Contact us today.

Want to learn more about PMI and the Homeowners Protection Act? Click this link:

Cancellation of Private Mortgage Insurance: Federal Law May Save You Hundreds of Dollars Each Year