Residential Real Estate Appraisal

Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Accurate Valuation LLC can help you get rid of your PMI.

A 20% down payment is usually the standard when purchasing a home. The lender's risk is often only the remainder between the home value and the sum due on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the expenses of foreclosure, selling the home again, and natural value changes on the chance that a borrower is unable to pay.

During the recent mortgage boom of the last decade, it became widespread to see lenders commanding down payments of 10, 5 or sometimes 0 percent. A lender is able to manage the additional risk of the small down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI protects the lender if a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the worth of the house is less than the balance of the loan.

PMI can be pricey to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. Unlike a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the damages, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they obtain the money, and they get paid if the borrower is unable to 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 refrain from bearing the expense of PMI?

With the utilization of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are obligated to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the primary loan amount. The law pledges that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount reaches only 80 percent. So, wise homeowners can get off the hook ahead of time.

Because it can take many years to reach the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount borrowed, it's important to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood may not be adopting the national trends and/or your home may have secured equity before things simmered down, so even when nationwide trends signify decreasing home values, you should realize that real estate is local.

The toughest thing for almost all home owners to know 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 understand the market dynamics of their area. At Accurate Valuation LLC, we're masters at identifying value trends in Wellington, Larimer County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually do away with the PMI with little anxiety. At which time, the home owner can delight in the savings from that point on.

Want to learn more about PMI and the Homeowners Protection Act? Click this link:
Cancellation of Private Mortgage Insurance: Federal Law May Save You Hundreds of Dollars Each Year