All Aboard Appraisals, Inc. can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceA 20% down payment is typically accepted when buying a house. Because the liability for the lender is usually only the difference between the home value and the amount outstanding on the loan, the 20% provides a nice cushion against the charges of foreclosure, reselling the home, and regular value fluctuationsin the event a borrower doesn't pay. Banks were taking down payments down to 10, 5 and often 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. How does a lender handle the increased risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added plan takes care of the lender in case a borrower defaults on the loan and the value of the house is less than what is owed on the loan. Because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is compiled into the mortgage monthly payment and often isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be costly to a borrower. It's advantageous for the lender because they obtain the money, and they receive payment if the borrower is unable to pay, separate from a piggyback loan where the lender consumes all the costs. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How homebuyers can avoid bearing the cost of PMIWith the implementation of The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, on most loans lenders are forced to automatically cancel the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the primary loan amount. Wise home owners can get off the hook ahead of time. The law states that, at the request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals only 80 percent. Considering it can take many years to arrive at the point where the principal is only 20% of the original loan amount, it's important to know how your home has grown in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've gained over the years counts towards dismissing PMI. So why pay it after your loan balance has fallen below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be reflecting the national trends and/or your home might have secured equity before things simmered down, so even when nationwide trends predict plunging home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The hardest thing for many homeowners to understand is just when their home's equity goes over the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can surely help. It's an appraiser's job to understand the market dynamics of their area. At All Aboard Appraisals, Inc., we're masters at determining value trends in Tappahannock, Essex County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will most often eliminate the PMI with little effort. At that time, the homeowner can relish the savings from that point on.
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