Home Equity ? Let the Market Eliminate Your Private Mortgage Insurance
In decades past, most people who were interested in obtaining a home loan were required to put down at least 20% of the purchase price. Those days are gone, and as home prices have risen faster than incomes, the average down payment required by lenders has dropped. In fact, it is often possible to buy a home with no down payment at all. Nationally, the average down payment is a 3%. It's nice to be able to buy a home with such a small amount of ready cash, but there is a downside ? if the down payment is less than 20%, the lender requires that private mortgage insurance (PMI) be added to the house note.
No one likes to pay PMI; the payment doesn't go towards paying off the house and the payments aren't tax deductible. And the PMI payments aren't trivial; the monthly PMI payment on a home priced at the U.S. median price of $206,000 with a 3% down payment is $129. Lenders require that borrowers pay PMI until the borrowed amount becomes less than 80% of the value of the home. In years past, this has meant that homeowners had to pay PMI until they had paid enough of the loan balance to reduce the debt to less than 80%.
Times have changed, however, and many homeowners may be eligible for a faster way to avoid the monthly PMI payments. The exploding real estate market has driven home prices higher than ever. Not only are the prices high, but the rate at which they are increasing is astonishing. In some parts of the country, home prices have doubled or even tripled in the last five years alone. The savvy homeowner should keep an eye on the price of housing in their local market, as the equity in his or her home may rise above 20% through market appreciation alone.
In most markets, this is often happening quickly enough that homeowners may be able to eliminate PMI less than two years after purchase, even if they put a minimum amount of money down on the home. A home appraisal is required to establish the equity to debt ratio of the loan, and this typically costs several hundred dollars. As that figure represents only a few months' PMI payments, most everyone would be glad to pay for an appraisal. Before doing so, contact your lender, as some lenders require PMI for a specific length of time before it can be dropped. No one likes to pay for private mortgage insurance, and thanks to an unusually aggressive real estate market, few homebuyers today should have to pay it for very long..
?Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a Website devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling information and HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on mortgages and home equity loans.Buying Auto Insurance (part 4 of 4)
Continued from part 3.Think About it: You Need to Buy Insurance to Protect Yourself, Passengers, and Family Members by Purchasing Underinsured Motorist Coverage (part 4 of 4)One serious mistake is to decline UIM coverage. Some companies require that you purchase UIM in the same amounts as the liability insurance. However, many companies, depending upon state law, are authorized to sell denominations of UIM coverage less than the liability limits. The insured thinks that he is providing some satisfactory minimal coverage for his family and decides to save some money with lower UIM limits. However, UIM is probably the most important place to spend money.
You are not as likely to cause an accident, as you are to be a victim of an accident. At least if you are taking the time to read this article, you are probably a person who will exercise more care and judgment in your driving than the ordinary person. Therefore, it is more likely that you will be making a claim against another...
Buying Auto Insurance (part 4 of 4)
Auto insurance > Buying Auto Insurance (part 4 of 4)
Auto Accident Collecting For Your Lost Wages
A couple months ago you were toolin' on down the avenue, minding your own business, when out of nowhere, this fumbling, stumbling man by the name of Freddie Fuddle flew through a Stop Sign and plowed into you with a gigantic, rip-roaring, screeching broadside. You were wearing your seat belt but it was still a thundering crash that wrenched and whipped you around the inside of your motor vehicle something fierce!Now, after a long recovery period, Fuddle's carrier, Granite Mountain Insurance is clamoring to close the case and they've assigned Claims Adjuster I. M. Strong, to handle your case. You and Strong are sitting at your kitchen table talking about your settlement dollars.
It turns out he's got some hang-up's regarding your lost income. Well, here are some things you need to know:Lost wages are one of the most important element's of your damages. Listen to me carefully when I say, "You should not think about the days you missed from work as Lost Time and Earnings. It's not...
Auto Accident Collecting For Your Lost Wages
Auto insurance > Auto Accident Collecting For Your Lost Wages
Insurance Credi Scoring: An Ethical Issue
The issue at hand is the use of a consumer's credit score as an underwriting tool for auto insurance rates. What is a credit score or FICO score? A FICO score is a credit score developed by Fair Isaac & Co. Credit scoring is a method of determining the likelihood that credit users will pay their bills. Fair, Isaac began its work with credit scoring in the late 1950s and, since then, scoring has become widely accepted by lenders as a reliable means of credit evaluation. A credit score attempts to condense a borrower's credit history into a single number.
Fair, Isaac & Co. and the credit bureaus do not reveal how these scores are computed. The Federal Trade Commission has ruled this to be acceptable.Isn't it interesting that the score most important in our financial lives, our consumer credit score does not even contain full disclosure? As stated above the Federal Trade Commission has ruled that it is ok for Fair Isaac & Co not to disclose the algorithms used in this process, but...
Insurance Credi Scoring: An Ethical Issue
Auto insurance > Insurance Credi Scoring: An Ethical Issue
Magellan GPS Navigation System and the Ford F-150
GPS Navigation Systems are a lot like DVRs (better known as TiVo). People who don't own them fail to understand why they're such a big deal, and those who have them can't live without them.
GPS technology actually consists of three separate components all working together. The three parts of GPS are the satellite constellation, the ground control network and the user equipment. By satellite constellation, we mean the satellites in low earth orbit which provide the signals and navigational data to the user's equipment. The ground control network continually monitors the health of the various satellites and the integrity of the signals received.
The user equipment is designed to receive signals from the satellite constellation and computer.
Today's cars, SUV's and pick-up trucks come with a variety of extras, from passenger side air bags to the ubiquitous car alarms. Entertainment options range from high-end speakers and CD players to multiple DVD players....
Auto insurance > Magellan GPS Navigation System and the Ford F-150
Auto insurance plasma Home Equity ? Let the Market Eliminate Your Private Mortgage Insurance
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