Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Infinity Real Estate Appraisals Inc. can help you get rid of your PMI.When purchasing a home, a 20% down payment is usually the standard. Considering the risk for the lender is generally only the remainder between the home value and the amount outstanding on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the charges of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value fluctuationsin the event a purchaser is unable to pay. Banks were accepting down payments as low as 10, 5 and even 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. How does a lender handle the additional risk of the low down payment? The solution is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added policy takes care of the lender in the event a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the value of the house is lower than what is owed on the loan. PMI is costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage payment and oftentimes isn't even tax deductible. It's profitable for the lender because they acquire the money, and they receive payment if the borrower doesn't pay, separate from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the losses. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can homebuyers keep from bearing the expense of PMI?With the implementation of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are forced to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the primary loan amount. Keen homeowners can get off the hook beforehand. The law promises that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount equals only 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount borrowed, so it's important to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've achieved over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% threshold? Despite the fact that nationwide trends predict declining home values, be aware that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be adhering to the national trends and/or your home might have secured equity before things simmered down. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can help home owners understand just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point, as it's a hard thing to know. It is an appraiser's job to understand the market dynamics of their area. At Infinity Real Estate Appraisals Inc., we know when property values have risen or declined. We're masters at identifying value trends in Monsey, Rockland County and surrounding areas. When faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually eliminate the PMI with little effort. At that time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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