Some lenders require private mortgage insurance, or PMI, when you obtain your mortgage. It can cost you hundreds, even thousands of dollars each year. It is rather easily avoidable, however, by simply making different financial arrangements. Here are a few ways that you can get out of this extra financial burden.
Private mortgage insurance, sometimes also referred to as Lender's Mortgage Insurance (LMI), is required by law if you borrow more than the necessary 80% of the loan to value (LTV) of the house. Once you go and borrow beyond this 80%, PMI becomes necessary. PMI can range anywhere from two-tenths up to nine-tenths of the total amount of the loan.
Lenders look at loans larger than this value as being a greater risk to themselves. The private mortgage insurance is designed to offset their risk. However, what has actually happened, is that while it makes the lender more comfortable, it can also make it that much harder to get a mortgage because now the payments become larger to pay for the PMI. There are three ways around this problem.
* Make A Larger Down Payment
When you come up with the remaining 20% of the value of the house, you then make it unnecessary to pay the PMI. Simply by putting down this amount, you can save hundreds of dollars each year. Even if you have to borrow the money from a relative, the savings will make it worthwhile if you can produce cash at closing.
* Piggyback Loans
This is a recent feature among lenders to help people have a way around PMI. Instead of taking out one mortgage, you actually take out two. The first one is for 80% of the amount you need. Obviously, if you go more than this, you pay PMI. This becomes your first mortgage.
A second mortgage is taken out at the same time, as a piggyback on top of the other one, typically either for 10%, or even 15%, of the remaining balance. The amount not included in this amount is expected from you as a down payment. These percentages may vary with different lenders, but they will be similar.
* Reduce Amount Owed
Private mortgage insurance was designed to be required only when more than 80% is borrowed. This means that mortgages should contain clauses in them that automatically eliminates this added charge when you get the principal down to 80%. The lender can, however, require you to pay PMI until you actually bring it down to 78%, and you must be current with your payments. (High risk loans may have different terms.) In some mortgages, however, there may be a required period of time to pay the PMI - even if you pass the 80% mark. Still, some lenders may let you talk them into removing it once you do so.
If you already have a mortgage and are paying PMI, it would be worth it to make larger payments if you can just to be rid of it. Once you reach the 80% LTV, PMI can usually be removed soon after.
In 2007, if you took out a mortgage this year and are required to pay PMI, you may be able to claim some of it on your taxes. The main requirement is that you make less than $110,000 for the tax year. It may not be available after this year.
Private mortgage insurance solves the down payment problem but creates two new problems. Your monthly payments will be larger and on top of that it is not tax deductible. Fortunately, there is more than one way to get your desired home without having the 20% down payment and avoid PMI at the same time.
Private mortgage insurance enables a borrower to put down a down payment of only 3-5%. This is also good to give the lender insurance if the borrower defaults on the loan. PMI payments can be large amounts so soon the borrower begins to want to rid himself of those payments. Rules for the suspension of PMI are activated when 22% equity is reached by the borrower. Those rules exclude government-insured FHA or VA mortgages which may be at high risk to default.
Piggyback loans are a way of taking 80% of the sale price of a home on a loan or a first mortgage and then taking a second mortgage of 5%, 10%, or 15%. This is a very popular way of avoiding private mortgage insurance. Even though a second mortgage usually has a higher rate the borrower could save money in the long run due to the fact loan payments are tax deductible unlike PMI payments. A combination of 80% first mortgage, 5% second mortgage and 15% down payment is referred to as 80/5/15. Accordingly, the other two loan combinations are 80/10/10 and 80/15/5.
In order to avoid private mortgage insurance, many homeowners are turning to a piggyback loan as a viable option. With this option homebuyers pay a single premium on their insurance and it is amortized over the term of loan. One of the pitfalls of this solution is that few lenders offer this option or work with the PMI structure.
Which loan you choose is entirely dependent on your individual case. You use all the tools at your disposal to make an informed decision. Paying the private mortgage insurance could possibly be a better solution than choosing to avoid it with a second mortgage. The disadvantage to loans with no PMI is that they can have higher interest rates. After making all the necessary calculations, you should carefully consider your options and try to make the best choice for yourself.
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