Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from Linda Beard can help you get rid of your PMI.A 20% down payment is usually accepted when getting a mortgage. Because the risk for the lender is often only the difference between the home value and the amount remaining on the loan, the 20% supplies a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, selling the home again, and regular value variationsin the event a purchaser doesn't pay. Banks were taking down payments down to 10, 5 and even 0 percent in the peak of last decade's mortgage boom. A lender is able to handle the added risk of the reduced down payment with Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This supplementary policy covers the lender in the event a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the value of the home is lower than the loan balance. PMI is costly to a borrower because the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is lumped into the mortgage payment and generally isn't even tax deductible. It's lucrative for the lender because they collect the money, and they get the money if the borrower defaults, separate from a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs 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 home buyers keep from bearing the cost of PMI?With the utilization 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. Smart home owners can get off the hook beforehand. The law guarantees that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be dropped when the principal amount equals only 80 percent. It can take countless years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the original amount borrowed, so it's important to know how your home has appreciated in value. After all, any appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards removing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood may not be adopting the national trends and/or your home could have acquired equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends predict falling home values, you should realize that real estate is local. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can help homeowners 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 know the market dynamics of our area. At Linda Beard, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're masters at pinpointing value trends in Medford, Jackson County and surrounding areas. When faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will generally do away with the PMI with little effort. At that time, the home owner can delight in the savings from that point on.
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