Mortgage Insurance

Mortgage insurance allows buyers to get more for their money with a lower down payment. Many buyers today cannot afford to pay twenty percent down to purchase a home. Choosing insurance for a mortgage is not just an option; it is required when purchasing a home with less than twenty percent down. Often referred to as PMI, private mortgage insurance will be added into the consumers monthly payments until the loan has amortized to 78% of the original value of the home. PMI is a measure to protect lenders on loaning to buyers who have less than 20% down, which is considered to be a high-risk loan.

If the buyer defaults on the loan and the property goes into foreclosure and must be sold, insurance repays the money to the lender. The majority of buyers do not have 20% down and if not for PMI, most of the United States would be renting and real estate demand and values would be drastically less than they are today. When it comes to mortgage insurance, the lender chooses the underwriter. Buyers cannot shop around for PMI and even if they did, they would discover that coverage is essentially the same no matter who the insurer is.

Luckily, the borrower can request to cancel PMI when the loan balance is paid down to 80% of the original property value. According to Federal law that was passed in July of 1999, insurance ends automatically when the loan is paid down to 78% of the original house value. Premiums are based on the amount of the loan. Some lending institutions offer the option of paying a higher interest rate over the life of the loan in lieu of insurance. The interest rate will be high enough to cover the lender-paid premiums as well as turn a little profit for them. In this respect, mortgage coverage would be the wiser choice if the consumer does not have a 20% down payment on the home that is being purchased.

The median home price in the United States for the average single family home is $207,000. Twenty percent of $207,000 is a healthy chunk of money. Many families that need to upgrade to a larger home do not have the required twenty percent down payment. Mortgage insurance can be a lifesaver in this situation. When purchasing a home with less than twenty percent down, the consumer must be faithful in making monthly payments to whittle away at the balance, and soon it will be possible to cancel the insurance, leaving the consumer with a lighter load of a mortgage payment. "A faithful man shall abound with blessings..." (Proverbs 28:20)

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