Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Edge Appraisal Services can help you get rid of your PMI.When getting a mortgage, a 20% down payment is typically the standard. The lender's liability is often only the difference between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, so the 20% adds a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value fluctuations on the chance that a purchaser is unable to pay. The market was taking down payments as low as 10, 5 and even 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the mid 2000s. A lender is able to handle the additional risk of the minimal down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This additional plan protects the lender in the event a borrower defaults on the loan and the value of the house is less than the loan balance. PMI can be pricey to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage monthly payment and many times isn't even tax deductible. It's lucrative for the lender because they secure the money, and they get the money if the borrower doesn't pay, different from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the losses. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How can a home buyer prevent bearing the expense of PMI?With the implementation of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are forced to automatically terminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. The law stipulates that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be abandoned when the principal amount reaches just 80 percent. So, wise home owners can get off the hook ahead of time. It can take countless years to reach the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount borrowed, so it's crucial to know how your home has grown in value. After all, all of the appreciation you've achieved over the years counts towards dismissing PMI. So why should you pay it after the balance of your loan has fallen below the 80% threshold? Even when nationwide trends forecast plunging home values, be aware that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be minding the national trends and/or your home might have gained equity before things simmered down. The toughest thing for almost all home owners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can surely help. It is an appraiser's job to understand the market dynamics of their area. At Edge Appraisal Services, we're experts at determining value trends in Hendersonville, Sumner County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. When faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will generally remove the PMI with little effort. At which time, the homeowner can enjoy the savings from that point on.
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