Clearfork Appraisals can help you remove your Private Mortgage InsuranceA 20% down payment is typically accepted when getting a mortgage. The lender's risk is usually only the difference between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, so the 20% supplies a nice buffer against the costs of foreclosure, reselling the home, and typical value changes in the event a purchaser is unable to pay. The market was accepting down payments down to 10, 5 and often 0 percent during the mortgage boom of the mid 2000s. How does a lender handle the additional risk of the small down payment? The solution is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. This added policy protects the lender in case a borrower doesn't pay on the loan and the value of the home is lower than the balance of the loan. Since the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and oftentimes isn't even tax deductible, PMI is costly to a borrower. It's lucrative for the lender because they acquire the money, and they receive payment if the borrower is unable to pay, different 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 homeowners can avoid bearing the expense of PMIThe Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 makes the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically stop the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. The law promises that, upon request of the home owner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount reaches just 80 percent. So, keen homeowners can get off the hook a little earlier. It can take many years to arrive at the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial amount borrowed, so it's crucial to know how your home has grown in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've acquired over the years counts towards removing PMI. So why should you pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% threshold? Your neighborhood might not be minding the national trends and/or your home may have gained equity before things settled down, so even when nationwide trends signify decreasing home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The difficult thing for many homeowners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. A certified, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. It's an appraiser's job to keep up with the market dynamics of their area. At Clearfork Appraisals, we know when property values have risen or declined. We're masters at identifying value trends in Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding areas. Faced with data from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often cancel the PMI with little trouble. At that time, the home owner can retain the savings from that point on.
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