Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Ken Colley & Associates Inc. can help you get rid of your PMI.It's generally inferred that a 20% down payment is common when purchasing a home. Since the risk for the lender is usually only the difference between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, the 20% provides a nice cushion against the charges of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value changeson the chance that a purchaser defaults. During the recent mortgage upturn of the last decade, it became customary to see lenders commanding down payments of 10, 5 or even 0 percent. How does a lender handle the additional risk of the small down payment? The solution is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This supplementary plan covers the lender if a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the market price of the house is lower than what is owed on the loan. PMI can be pricey to a borrower in that the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is bundled into the mortgage payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. It's profitable for the lender because they secure the money, and they get paid if the borrower is unable to pay, contradictory to a piggyback loan where the lender takes in all the damages. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How home owners can prevent bearing the expense of PMIThe Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 requires the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the original loan amount. The law designates that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals just 80 percent. So, savvy homeowners can get off the hook ahead of time. It can take countless years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the original loan amount, so it's essential to know how your home has grown in value. After all, any appreciation you've accomplished over time counts towards abolishing PMI. So why should you pay it after the balance of your loan has dropped below the 80% threshold? Even when nationwide trends predict declining home values, be aware that real estate is local. Your neighborhood may not be following the national trends and/or your home might have secured equity before things settled down. The hardest thing for most home owners to know is just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. As appraisers, it's our job to understand the market dynamics of our area. At Ken Colley & Associates Inc., we're experts at analyzing value trends in Fort Smith, Sebastian County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will usually drop the PMI with little trouble. At that time, the home owner can relish the savings from that point on.
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