Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from SBG Valuations can help you get rid of your PMI.When buying a house, a 20% down payment is typically the standard. The lender's liability is oftentimes only the remainder between the home value and the sum outstanding on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value changes on the chance that a borrower doesn't pay. During the recent mortgage boom of the last decade, it became common to see lenders taking down payments of 10, 5 or often 0 percent. How does a lender handle the added risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI protects the lender in the event a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the value of the house is less than the balance of the loan. PMI can be costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage monthly payment and often isn't even tax deductible. Separate from a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the deficits, PMI is lucrative 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 homeowners can avoid bearing the expense of PMIThe Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on most loans to automatically stop the PMI when the principal balance of the loan equals 78 percent of the beginning loan amount. Smart homeowners can get off the hook a little early. The law stipulates that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount of the loan, so it's necessary to know how your home has increased in value. After all, any appreciation you've achieved over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% mark? Even when nationwide trends indicate decreasing home values, understand that real estate is local. Your neighborhood might not be adopting the national trends and/or your home might have secured equity before things settled down. The difficult 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 is an appraiser's job to recognize the market dynamics of their area. At SBG Valuations, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're experts at recognizing value trends in Waxhaw, Union County and surrounding areas. When faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will generally remove the PMI with little anxiety. At that time, the homeowner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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