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Your Down Payment Amount May Trigger An Additional Payment, Mortgage Insurance.

Dottie Spitaleri • Feb 23, 2022

Many of my clients are surprised that they are required to pay an extra expense included into their mortgage payment known as mortgage insurance. Fortunately, you don’t always need to carry mortgage insurance. Below we discuss when you need it, the different types of insurance, and how to drop mortgage insurance. If you are trying to lower your monthly payments or are planning to buy a house, you need to know this information before making a down payment decision!


Let’s start with the basics



Mortgage insurance is an insurance policy that protects the lender in case the homeowner defaults on the payments or can no longer meet the contractual requirements of the mortgage. If you fall behind, your credit score will suffer and you may lose your home through foreclosure. The premium is part of your monthly mortgage payment. This type of insurance does not protect the borrower/buyer/homeowner, only the lender. 


When do you need mortgage insurance?


The type of mortgage insurance will depend on the loan program that you will use. For example, Conventional financing will require you to carry mortgage insurance if you are putting down less than 20%. Conventional loans call mortgage insurance PMI, private mortgage insurance which is paid to a private company and are typically paid as a monthly fee although there are other options. For FHA loans you pay the mortgage insurance to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and it is required regardless of how much you are putting down. They both work in different ways but have the same protection. 


How do the different mortgage insurances work? 


Not everyone can put down 20% when buying their home. This is where mortgage insurance comes into play. For Conventional financing the policy premium is based on how much you are putting down, the loan amount and your credit score. There are 4 tiers that affect the premium, 3% down, 5% down, 10% down and 15% down. The more you put down the lower the premium and that works the same for your credit score too, the higher the credit score the lower the premium. FHA requires you to carry mortgage insurance regardless of the down payment. FHA requires a minimum of 3.5% down; however, they have a lower premium and term if you are putting down more than 10%. 


When will the mortgage insurance drop off of my payment?


With Conventional financing, the mortgage insurance will remain part of your payment until the loan to value is at 78%. It will automatically drop off but you may want to contact your loan servicer to make sure that they are aware. There are a few ways that your loan to value can change. One is paying the loan down over time or with a one-time lump sum and the other might include the home value increasing which will lower your loan to value (LTV) or a combination of these. 


FHA financing works a little differently than Conventional. If you are putting down less than 10% then you will be required to pay the mortgage insurance (MI) for the life of the loan. The only way to remove it is to pay off the loan or refinance the loan into a conventional loan product. If you are putting down 10% or more then you will pay a slightly lower premium but will only need to carry the mortgage insurance for 11 years. The premium for FHA is the same regardless of the credit score; however, FHA has a one-time upfront fee of 1.75% of the base loan amount. This can be paid as part of the closing costs or rolled into the loan amount. Majority of the buyers roll it into the loan amount as it doesn't make a huge difference in the payment when it is amortized over 30 years. 


Next Steps


Simple decisions like choosing an FHA Loan, VA Loan, Conventional Loan, and down payment decisions can mean saving 10s of thousands of dollars or losing 10s of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. Talk to your mortgage broker about PMI before locking in any contract. If you don’t have a broker or lender to talk to, give me a call
(727) 543-1753.


To learn more about me, Dottie Spitaleri, visit
https://www.ddamortgage.com/dottie.


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By Didier Malagies 29 Apr, 2024
Depending on where you live there is an opportunity in certain areas that you can get $2,500 towards the closing costs. You also get a lower rate and monthly PMI. Programs open up to you where there is down payment assistance and also the 1% down program available. The Gov't is printing 1 trillion every 100 days, and the costs of everything are out of control. The time will come when they will be printing a trillion every 30 days. Credit cards, car loans, and student loans are at unprecedented levels is it time to refinance your home to save money and then do another refinance as a rate term when the pivot happens at some point in the future the cost of everything is going up and not stopping and you will see inflation continue to gain ground once again. Time to put the house in order with a refinance to consolidate debt. A phone call or an email away to go over your present situation and see what makes sense with the present home values tune in and learn https://www.ddamortgage.com/blog didier malagies nmls#212566 dda mortgage nmls#324329
By Didier Malagies 22 Apr, 2024
Retirement at 65 has been a longstanding norm for U.S. workers, but older investors believe that not only is such an outcome unfeasible, but they’re likely to face more challenging retirements than their parents or grandparents. This is according to recently released survey results from Nationwide , with a respondent pool that included 518 financial advisers and professionals, as well as 2,346 investors ages 18 and older with investable assets of $10,000 or more. The survey follows other ongoing research into the baby boomer generation as it approaches “ Peak 65 .” The investors included a subset of 391 “pre-retirees“ between the ages of 55 and 65 who are not retired, along with subsets of 346 single women and 726 married women, Nationwide explained of its methodology. Seven in 10 of the pre-retiree investors said that the norm of retirement at age 65 “doesn’t apply to them,” while 67% of this cohort also believe that their own retirement challenges will outweigh those of preceding generations. Stress is changing the perceptions of retired life, especially for those who are closest to retirement, the results suggest. “Four in 10 (41%) pre-retirees said they would continue working in retirement to supplement their income out of necessity, and more than a quarter (27%) plan to live frugally to fund their retirement goals,” the results explained. “What’s more, pre-retirees say their plans to retire have changed over the last 12 months, with 22% expecting to retire later than planned.” Eric Henderson, president of Nationwide Annuity , said that previous generations who observed a “smooth transition” into retired life do not appear to be translating to the current generation making the same move. “Today’s investors are having a tougher time picturing that for themselves as they grapple with inflation and concerns about running out of money in retirement,” Henderson said in a statement. The result is that more pre-retirees are changing their spending habits and aiming to live more inexpensively. Forty-two percent of the surveyed pre-retiree cohort agreed with the idea that managing day-to-day expenses has grown more challenging due to rising costs of living, while 27% attributed inflation as the key reason they are saving less for retirement today. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that inflation “poses the most immediate challenge to their retirement portfolio over the next 12 months,” while 41% said they were avoiding unnecessary expenses like vacations and leisure shopping. Confidence in the U.S. Social Security program has also fallen, the survey found. “Lack of confidence in the viability of Social Security upon retirement (38%) is a significant factor influencing pre-retirees to rethink or redefine their retirement planning strategies,” the results explained. “Over two-fifths (43%) are not counting on Social Security benefits as much as previously expected, and more than a quarter (27%) expect to receive less in benefits than previously anticipated.”  The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide in January 2024.
By Didier Malagies 22 Apr, 2024
Depending on where you live there is an opportunity in certain areas that you can get $2,500 towards the closing costs. You also get a lower rate and monthly PMI. Programs open up to you where there is down payment assistance and also the 1% down program available. I am seeing more and more first-time home buyers coming out now and this is information you need to know. Yes, home prices are higher and rates as well. But if you have these programs available and the payment is affordable then the probability of refinancing down the road is in your favor and if inflation continues to go up so will home prices. Maybe it is the right time to buy a home now? Tune in and learn https://www.ddamortgage.com/blog didier malagies nmls#212566 dda mortgage nmls#324329
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