Acronyms to Know
PMI is required on conventional loans if the loan-to-value ratio is greater than 80%. PMI fees vary, depending on the size of the down payment and your credit score. Under certain circumstances, PMI cancellation is possible at 80% loan-to-value. It is also possible to pay for your mortgage insurance taking a higher interest rate instead of paying a monthly insurance premium. This often will result in a lower monthly payment.
MIP is required on all FHA loans. FHA loans with greater than 90% LTV, mortgage insurance is required for the life of the loan. When the LTV on an FHA loan has 90% or less, MIP is required for the first 11 years.
BPMI is the most common type of PMI. When you read about PMI and the type isn’t specified, this is usually the kind that’s being discussed. BPMI comes in the form of an additional monthly fee that you pay with your mortgage payment. After your loan closes, you pay BPMI every month until you have 22% equity in your home based on the original purchase price. At that point the lender must automatically cancel BPMI, as long as you’re current on your mortgage payments. Accumulating enough home equity through regular monthly mortgage payments to get BPMI canceled generally takes about 11 years.
LPMI is when your mortgage lender will technically pay the mortgage insurance premium. In fact, you will actually pay for it over the life of the loan in the form of a slightly higher interest rate. Unlike BPMI, you can’t cancel LPMI when your equity reaches 78% because it’s built into the loan. Refinancing will be the only way to lower your monthly payment. Your interest rate will not decrease once you have 20% or 22% equity.
The benefit of lender-paid PMI, despite the higher interest rate, is that your monthly payment is often lower compared with making monthly PMI payments, and you could qualify to borrow more.
Years ago, a 20% down payment was a requirement for obtaining a Utah mortgage loan. Putting that much money down made it less likely that borrowers would simply default on their home loans and gave lenders a measure of security and collateral in the case of foreclosure.
However, in more recent years, lenders have gotten much more creative in financing to help more Americans become homeowners. There are now mortgage loans that require as little as 3% down up front. In order to compensate for that added risk of loss, lenders require borrowers with a down payment of less than 20% to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI). This protects the lender from monetary losses.
PMI is an insurance policy that the borrower takes out with a separate company that guarantees the mortgage company will recoup their losses if the borrower defaults. The borrower pays a premium each month and must keep the policy until his or her equity reaches 20% of the home value.
If you are in the market for a home loan but are not sure you can scrape together a large enough down payment to avoid PMI, here are 4 reasons you should think about saving a little longer:
Of course, there may be some situations when paying PMI makes sense. Most often this is when you are buying in an area with strong home price appreciation or if your down payment is very close to 20% and you know you will be able to put down the rest soon. And first-time homebuyers often find PMI worth the cost in order to break into the housing market.
However, in most other situations, simply saving up a full 20% down payment is the safest way to take on a mortgage home loan. It also ensures that you let your money work for you and not the other way around.
