Crest Appraisal Services can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceA 20% down payment is usually accepted when buying a house. Considering the liability for the lender is generally only the remainder between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, the 20% adds a nice cushion against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and regular value fluctuationsin the event a purchaser doesn't pay. During the recent mortgage boom of the last decade, it was common to see lenders requiring down payments of 10, 5 or often 0 percent. A lender is able to manage the added risk of the small down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI takes care of the lender in case a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the value of the house is less than what the borrower still owes on the loan. Because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage monthly payment and oftentimes isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be expensive to a borrower. Different from a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the losses, PMI is profitable for the lender because they secure the money, and they get paid 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 home buyers can prevent paying PMIWith the employment of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on nearly all loans lenders are required to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. Keen homeowners can get off the hook a little early. The law guarantees that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. Since it can take many years to reach the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial loan amount, it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've acquired over the years counts towards abolishing PMI. So why pay it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be minding the national trends and/or your home could have secured equity before things simmered down, so even when nationwide trends hint at plummeting home values, you should realize that real estate is local. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can help homeowners understand just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point, as it's a difficult thing to know. It is an appraiser's job to know the market dynamics of their area. At Crest Appraisal Services, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're experts at recognizing value trends in Seattle, King County and surrounding areas. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often drop the PMI with little effort. At which time, the homeowner can relish the savings from that point on.
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