Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Zacour & Associates, Inc. can help you get rid of your PMI.When buying a house, a 20% down payment is typically the standard. Since the liability for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, the 20% provides a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value variationson the chance that a purchaser doesn't pay. During the recent mortgage upturn of the mid 2000s, it was widespread to see lenders taking 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. This added policy guards the lender in case a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the value of the home is less than the loan balance. PMI can be costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is compiled into the mortgage payment and frequently isn't even tax deductible. It's lucrative for the lender because they secure the money, and they get paid if the borrower defaults, opposite from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the costs. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How buyers can prevent paying PMIWith the utilization of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are required to automatically cease the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the original loan amount. The law designates that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, smart home owners can get off the hook sooner than expected. Because it can take countless years to reach the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount of the loan, it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, any appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards removing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% mark? Even when nationwide trends hint at decreasing home values, realize that real estate is local. Your neighborhood might not be adhering to the national trends and/or your home might have secured equity before things cooled off. The toughest thing for many homeowners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can certainly help. It's an appraiser's job to know the market dynamics of their area. At Zacour & Associates, Inc., we're experts at analyzing value trends in El Paso, El Paso County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. When faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often cancel the PMI with little effort. At which time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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