Have equity in your home? Want a lower payment? An appraisal from L & J Appraisal Co., LLC can help you get rid of your PMI.A 20% down payment is usually the standard when buying a house. The lender's risk is often only the remainder between the home value and the sum remaining on the loan, so the 20% provides a nice cushion against the expenses of foreclosure, selling the home again, and natural value fluctuations in the event a purchaser doesn't pay. During the recent mortgage upturn of the last decade, it became widespread to see lenders requiring down payments of 10, 5 or often 0 percent. How does a lender endure the additional risk of the small down payment? The answer is Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI. PMI takes care of the lender if a borrower is unable to pay on the loan and the value of the house is lower than what the borrower still owes on the loan. Since the $40-$50 a month per $100,000 borrowed is rolled into the mortgage monthly payment and many times isn't even tax deductible, PMI can be costly to a borrower. Contradictory to a piggyback loan where the lender absorbs all the deficits, PMI is lucrative for the lender because they acquire the money, and they get the money if the borrower defaults. 
Does your monthly mortgage payment include PMI? Contact us, you may be able to save money by removing your PMI. How home buyers can refrain from bearing the cost of PMIThe Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 obligates the lenders on nearly all loans to automatically eliminate the PMI when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78 percent of the initial loan amount. Wise home owners can get off the hook a little earlier. The law guarantees that, upon request of the homeowner, the PMI must be released when the principal amount equals only 80 percent. It can take countless years to get to the point where the principal is just 20% of the initial loan amount, so it's essential to know how your home has increased in value. After all, every bit of appreciation you've acquired over time counts towards dismissing PMI. So why pay it after your loan balance has dropped below the 80% mark? Your neighborhood might not be following the national trends and/or your home might have acquired equity before things cooled off, so even when nationwide trends forecast decreasing home values, you should understand that real estate is local. The toughest thing for most home owners to understand is just when their home's equity rises above the 20% point. An accredited, licensed real estate appraiser can definitely help. As appraisers, it's our job to know the market dynamics of our area. At L & J Appraisal Co., LLC, we're experts at determining value trends in Metairie, Jefferson County and surrounding areas, and we know when property values have risen or declined. Faced with information from an appraiser, the mortgage company will often eliminate the PMI with little anxiety. At that time, the home owner can enjoy the savings from that point on.
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