Thursday, November 8, 2018

To PMI or Not to PMI (Part 1 of 5)


Is Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) necessary? Will it help me buy a house? Is there a way around it? Those are the questions.
Actually, they probably constitute only the tip of the mortgage iceberg if you’re buying your first home. But squaring away the PMI query is an important effort that will help you zero in on the right loan for you and better understand your monthly commitment as a homeowner. Let’s tackle those questions.

So, what is PMI anyway?

Call it an insurance policy that protects your lender against the possibility that you could default on your loan. “One of the risk measures that lenders use in underwriting a mortgage is the mortgage's loan-to-value (LTV) ratio,” said Investopedia. “This is a simple calculation made by dividing the amount of the loan by the value of the home. The higher the LTV ratio, the higher the risk profile of the mortgage. Most mortgages with an LTV ratio greater than 80% require that private mortgage insurance (PMI) be paid by the borrower. That's because a borrower who owns less than 20% of the property's value is considered to be more likely to default on a loan.”

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