Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Trinity Real Estate Service Partners LLC can help you get rid of your PMI.When buying a house, a 20% down payment is usually the standard. The lender's risk is often only the difference between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, so the 20% provides a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, reselling the home, and natural value variations in the event a purchaser is unable to pay. During the recent mortgage boom of the last decade, it was common to see lenders taking down payments of 10, 5 or sometimes 0 percent. How does a lender handle the added risk of the low down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI protects the lender in case a borrower defaults on the loan and the market price of the house is lower than what is owed on the loan. PMI can be costly to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage monthly payment and many times isn't even tax deductible. Contradictory to a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the costs, PMI is money-making for the lender because they collect 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 can home buyers prevent paying PMI?With the implementation 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 reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. The law promises that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches just 80 percent. So, wise homeowners can get off the hook a little earlier. It can take many years to reach the point where the principal is only 20% of the original amount of the loan, so it's crucial to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've accomplished over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So what's the reason for paying it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% mark? Despite the fact that nationwide trends indicate plummeting home values, realize that real estate is local. Your neighborhood might not be adopting the national trends and/or your home could have secured equity before things settled down. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can help home owners understand just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point, as it's a tough thing to know. As appraisers, it's our job to recognize the market dynamics of our area. At Trinity Real Estate Service Partners LLC, we're masters at pinpointing value trends in , Tarrant County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with figures from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually do away with the PMI with little effort. At which time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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