There are many types of mortgages in the real estate industry, and PMIs (or private mortgage insurances) are one of the most prominent. PMIs are by their very nature, designed to protect the lender instead of the buyer (you). Generally speaking, PMIs are mandatory to have, if you want to buy a home using a conventional loan.
Talking about specifics, making less than 20% of the price as a down payment, will usually result in a PMI being charged. This is because it gives protection to the mortgage company, in case you default or cannot pay back the loan. Sometimes a private mortgage insurance is collected in one huge lump, and other times it is collected in installments, depending upon the insurance company.
Why You Need to Avoid a Private Mortgage Insurance
It should be pretty obvious by now that having private mortgage insurance is not an ideal situation to be in. This type of Insurance has many notorious traits that make it undesirable to attain, these include its high cost, duration, and its non-hereditary nature.
First of all, the cost of PMIs is relatively higher, compared to other types of insurance. They typically cost between 0.5 and 1 percent of the entire loan amount on a yearly basis. Considering the median house prices nowadays, this has the potential to become a significant amount.
Moreover, a private mortgage iInsurance is non-hereditary; in other words, your spouse or your kids will not receive any sort of monetary compensation in case you die. This reinforces the fact that only the lenders benefit from the insurance, as they are the ones who will be the sole beneficiary of this financial transaction.
Furthermore, a PMI has the potential to be active for a very long period of time, even longer than you intend it to be. This is because some lenders impose their contract for a designated period of time, even if you have met the 20 percent threshold. Therefore, it would be essential to go through the PMI contract, and understand all of its clauses.
Another disadvantage of private mortgage insurance is that they are not tax deductible. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Acts made PMIs this way. Therefore, this insurance will by no means cut down your overall costs, as you will still be charged the same amount of taxes. In some cases, a PMI may be tax deductible, but that is quite rare. These become deductible for those families earning less than $110,000 per year. Other than that, if a person opts to pay the whole PMI amount upfront, the contractor will often make it tax deductible.
Most insurances provide people the leverage to cancel them, but private mortgage insurances do not work this way. There is a long and arduous process to exempt yourself from making even your monthly financial obligation. Normally, you have to write a letter requesting the monthly cancellation, and this can take months to get processed. At the AFTHA Program, we help thousands of clients each year, American families who are struggling hard with this kind of situations. Our experts are ready to match your profile with the best lenders right in your state. Want to know how? Call now to (833) 295-6128, or write us an email at support@afthaprogram.com, we’re proud to serve hard-working people like you.
© 2021 AFTHA PROGRAM All rights reserved.