Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Carter-Hazel & Associates (404) 895-3972 can help you get rid of your PMI.It's widely inferred that a 20% down payment is common when purchasing a home. The lender's liability is often only the difference between the home value and the amount due on the loan, so the 20% provides a nice buffer against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value fluctuations on the chance that a purchaser defaults. Banks were working with down payments as low as 10, 5 and often 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. A lender is able to manage the added risk of the low down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This additional plan guards the lender in the event a borrower defaults on the loan and the value of the house is lower than the balance of the loan. PMI can be expensive to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage payment and often isn't even tax deductible. It's profitable for the lender because they obtain the money, and they get paid if the borrower defaults, 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 a buyer refrain from bearing the cost of PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on most loans to automatically terminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the primary loan amount. Acute homeowners can get off the hook a little earlier. The law designates that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is only 20% of the original amount of the loan, so it's important to know how your home has increased in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards removing PMI. So what's the reason for paying it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% threshold? Even when nationwide trends signify decreasing home values, realize that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be heeding the national trends and/or your home could have acquired equity before things simmered down. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can help homeowners understand just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point, as it's a difficult thing to know. As appraisers, it's our job to understand the market dynamics of our area. At Carter-Hazel & Associates (404) 895-3972, we're experts at recognizing value trends in Conyers, Rockdale County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually remove the PMI with little effort. At which time, the homeowner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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