Tom Johnson

  • Home
  • Search
    • Advanced Search
    • Map Search
    • Get Property Alerts
    • What’s My Home Worth?
  • Areas
    • Aurora
    • Denver
    • Parker
    • Centennial
  • Featured Properties
  • Blog
  • About
    • About Tom
    • Testimonials
  • Contact

Try Our Property Search

Get Property Alerts

Read Our Blog

What's Your Home Worth

What You Need to Know About Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)

May 25, 2019 By Tom Johnson

What You Need to Know About Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) | MyKCM

Whether it is your first time or your fifth, it is always important to know all the facts when it comes to buying a home. With the large number of mortgage programs available that allow buyers to purchase homes with down payments below 20%, you can never have too much information about Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI).

What is PMI?

Freddie Mac defines PMI as:

“An insurance policy that protects the lender if you are unable to pay your mortgage. It’s a monthly fee, rolled into your mortgage payment, that is required for all conforming, conventional loans that have down payments less than 20%.

Once you’ve built equity of 20% in your home, you can cancel your PMI and remove that expense from your mortgage payment.”

As the borrower, you pay the monthly premiums for the insurance policy, and the lender is the beneficiary. Freddie Mac goes on to explain that:

“The cost of PMI varies based on your loan-to-value ratio – the amount you owe on your mortgage compared to its value – and credit score, but you can expect to pay between $30 and $70 per month for every $100,000 borrowed.” 

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average down payment for all buyers last year was 13%. For first-time buyers, that number dropped to 7%, while repeat buyers put down 16% (no doubt aided by the sale of their homes). This just goes to show that for a large number of buyers last year, PMI did not stop them from buying their dream homes.

Here’s an example of the cost of a mortgage on a $200,000 home with a 5% down payment & PMI, compared to a 20% down payment without PMI:What You Need to Know About Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) | MyKCMThe larger the down payment you can make, the lower your monthly housing cost will be, but Freddie Mac urges you to remember:

“It’s no doubt an added cost, but it’s enabling you to buy now and begin building equity versus waiting 5 to 10 years to build enough savings for a 20% down payment.”

Bottom Line

If you have questions about whether you should buy now or wait until you’ve saved a larger down payment, let’s get together to discuss our market’s conditions and help you make the best decision for you and your family.

Filed Under: Home Buying, Mortgage

Recent Posts

  • Why Your Home Inspection Matters [INFOGRAPHIC]
  • Why Buying a Home May Make More Sense Than Renting [INFOGRAPHIC]
  • Why You Should Consider Condos as Part of Your Home Search
  • What Experts Say Will Happen with Home Prices Next Year
  • What Every Seller Needs To Know About Renovating This Year
  • 4 Simple Graphs Showing Why This Is Not a Housing Bubble
  • Don’t Let Student Loans Delay Your Homeownership Dreams
  • What’s Driving Today’s High Buyer Demand? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  • The Top Indicator if You Want To Know Where Mortgage Rates Are Heading
  • How Remote Work Impacts Your Home Search [INFOGRAPHIC]

Categories

  • 1031 Exchange
  • Aurora Neighborhoods
  • Home Buying
  • Home For Sale
  • Home Improvements
  • Home Maintenance
  • Home Ownership
  • Home Selling
  • Home Value
  • Investment Property
  • Market Information
  • Money Matters
  • Mortgage
  • New Construction
  • Recommendation/Testimonial
  • Taxes
  • Uncategorized
  • VA Loans
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Equal Housing
Blue Fire Group    Real Estate Websites
© 2023 Copyright
LAC
Buying Buddy    Powered By Buying Buddy ®