Good for my bottom line; good for the business's cash flow. With 4 percent a year appreciation for eight years, their homes value will have grown to $136,860. In the South, houses were sold for 3.7% less than a year earlier, and in the Northeast prices went down 2.5%. In contrast, depending on whose numbers you use, stocks have yielded an average pretax return of between 9 and 12 percent a year over the longer run. You may be able to consolidate two or more loans into a lower-interest account and improve cash flow. If you take out a mortgage for $100,000, the PMI premium for the first year will be around $500. That result yields an after-tax annual rate of return around 24 percent. This is true regardless of what you paid for the equity. Atlantic City and Salt Lake City metro areas saw highest price gains, with more than 20% increases in single family home prices. If the mortgage was considered a high risk loan, it can be when you reach 77%. John Morroni is the owner of RefinanceHelp.org, a site dedicated to mortage refinance and home prices. Is it wise to refinance a larger amount than what your present mortgage is. If instead, you had put $10,000 or $20,000 into, say, a home in boom-towns like Portland, Austin, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Park Cities, Denver, Boulder, Sarasota—or any one of dozens of other hot housing market cities—you would have enjoyed a tenfold (or greater) increase in your original down payment investment. If you also have several loans, review the rates and terms on each one. If you don't already have a system in place, start billing for projects on a regular basis. It’s important to be sure how long you will be living in your home. Ben works for a portland web design and marketing company named Labworks Design. In fact, over the long term, fewer than 2 percent of professional fund managers have been able to consistently earn after- tax returns on stocks of more than 10 to 15 percent a year. But I'm surprised at the number of ways entrepreneurs do manage to borrow. Who has to pay PMI? Most lenders require private mortgage insurance from home buyers who put down less than 20% of the total value of their home – or conversely, who borrow more than 80% of the total value of their home. Good for my bottom line; good for the business's cash flow. In the South, houses were sold for 3.7% less than a year earlier, and in the Northeast prices went down 2.5%. In addition, many states have their own laws regarding private mortgage insurance that are designed to protect homeowners and save them money. The process of refinancing involves paying off your previous mortgage loan and signing up for a new loan. The length of time you have to maintain PMI varies from state to state and lender to lender, but you can generally cancel your PMI when you have between 20% and 25% equity in your home.