Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Sun State Appraisals can help you get rid of your PMI.It's largely understood that a 20% down payment is accepted when buying a house. Because the liability for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, the 20% provides a nice cushion against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and typical value variationson the chance that a purchaser defaults. The market was taking down payments as low as 10, 5 and even 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the last decade. How does a lender handle the added risk of the low down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI guards the lender if a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the value of the property is less than what is owed on the loan. Since the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and generally isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be costly to a borrower. Opposite from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the deficits, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they secure 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 home owner keep from bearing the expense of PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on most loans to automatically cease the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the initial loan amount. Wise home owners can get off the hook a little early. The law guarantees that, at the request of the home owner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount reaches just 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial loan amount, so it's crucial to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've obtained over time counts towards dismissing PMI. So why pay it after the balance of your loan has fallen below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood may not be adhering to the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends hint at plunging home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The difficult thing for many homeowners to know is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. It's an appraiser's job to understand the market dynamics of their area. At Sun State Appraisals, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're experts at analyzing value trends in Apopka, Orange County and surrounding areas. When faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often remove the PMI with little effort. At which time, the homeowner can enjoy the savings from that point on.
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