All Access Appraisals can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceWhen purchasing a home, a 20% down payment is usually the standard. Since the risk for the lender is usually only the remainder between the home value and the amount outstanding on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the expenses of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value fluctuationsin the event a purchaser doesn't pay. The market was working with down payments down to 10, 5 and even 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. How does a lender handle the increased risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI takes care of the lender in case a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the worth of the home 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 rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and often isn't even tax deductible. Opposite from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the losses, PMI is beneficial for the lender because they secure 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 a homebuyer keep from bearing the cost of PMI?The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 forces the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the original loan amount. The law pledges that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, acute homeowners can get off the hook sooner than expected. Since it can take many years to reach the point where the principal is only 20% of the original loan amount, it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards removing PMI. So what's the reason for paying it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood may not be following the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends forecast plunging home values, you should realize that real estate is local. The hardest 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 surely help. As appraisers, it's our job to keep up with the market dynamics of our area. At All Access Appraisals, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're experts at identifying value trends in Drexel Hill, Delaware County and surrounding areas. When faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often drop the PMI with little anxiety. At which time, the homeowner can relish the savings from that point on.
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