Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Accurate Appraisal Services can help you get rid of your PMI.It's typically known that a 20% down payment is accepted when purchasing a home. The lender's risk is oftentimes only the difference between the home value and the amount due on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, selling the home again, and natural value fluctuations on the chance that a borrower is unable to pay. During the recent mortgage boom of the mid 2000s, it became widespread to see lenders requiring down payments of 10, 5 or sometimes 0 percent. A lender is able to manage the increased risk of the low down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI protects the lender if a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the worth of the house is less than the balance of the loan. Since the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage payment and frequently isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be expensive to a borrower. Opposite from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the costs, PMI is profitable for the lender because they collect the money, and they receive payment if the borrower doesn't pay. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can home owners prevent paying PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 forces the lenders on most loans to automatically cease the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the primary loan amount. Keen homeowners can get off the hook a little early. The law stipulates that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. It can take many years to reach the point where the principal is only 20% of the original amount borrowed, so it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, any appreciation you've accomplished over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% threshold? Despite the fact that nationwide trends forecast plunging home values, understand that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be minding the national trends and/or your home could have secured equity before things simmered down. The toughest thing for many homeowners to understand is just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can certainly help. As appraisers, it's our job to know the market dynamics of our area. At Accurate Appraisal Services, we're experts at recognizing value trends in Alexander, Buncombe County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will generally drop the PMI with little trouble. At which time, the homeowner can relish the savings from that point on.
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