Mortgage News

PMI, or private mortgage insurance is required on any 1st mortgage with a loan to value of 80% or greater. Contrary to what many believe, its purpose is to protect the lender (not the mortgage holder) in the event of a default on the mortgage. As you pay down your mortgage to below 80% LTV (most require you to pay down to 78%), you should consider what your options are for getting rid of this extra payment.

1. Keep up with homes are selling for in your neighborhood. If you are at 78% loan to value based on what comparable homes are selling for, then simply call your lender to discuss this with them. Personally, I would call even at 80%. They may require you to put your request in writing and they may require an appraisal which you will need to pay for.

2. Refinance. If you know that your home would appraise for at least 20% more than you owe, then perhaps a refinance should be considered. This can accomplish many goals such as reducing your rate or converting an adjustable rate to a fixed rate at the same time. Just know that you will incur fees so make sure there is room for those fees within the 80% loan to value ratio.

3. Pay Down Your Mortgage aggressively. If you aren’t close to being at the 80% LTV, then you need to look at how you get their as quickly as possible. You can pre-pay principal to make this happen, but the absolute best way to pay down your principal in the fastest amount of time is with a Money Merge Account. The Money Merge Account is a new system being used by thousands of homeowners across America to reduce their mortgage by 1/3 to 1/2 with out refinancing. It’s not for everyone, but currently, you can get a FREE Mortgage Savings Analysis from MortgageZapper.com. I highly recommend the Money Merge Account as a valuable financial planning tool. It will not only help you reach your goal of paying down your mortgage to reduce PMI, but will help you achieve the seemingly unattainable goal if paying off your mortgage completely.

Once you get that extra $50 - $200+ in your pocket every month, I strongly recommend speaking with an investment advisor to discuss the best way to make it grow even further.

Original post by Consumers Advantage Mortgage

So the Fed’s are continuing to bring the short term interest rates down, this is good news. Some will say it doesn′t matter, but lets take a look at what it really means.

Short term interest rates that are tied to the Prime are now a bit lower. Granted most people won′t notice because many people choose to live on credit card debt. If you are looking to make a difference in your personal finances, now is a time to aggressively attack those credit cards.

How, you ask? Well, now Home Equity Loans are much lower as well. Back in 2004 Home Equity Loans (a.k.a. HELOC’s) were all the buzz. As a loan officer, I think I did at least a few every week. They were like super sizing a loan “would you like a home equity loan with that? There is no additional cost and no extra closing costs as long as you keep it open for 3 years, and you never have to use it”. It worked like magic and it was what people wanted. The savvy consumers took advantage of them and converted high interest credit card payments into lower interest, partially tax-deductible payments.

Well, it’s 2008. and again, it’s a great time to get a Home Equity loan, but this time, I don’t just recommend paying off debts with it, I recommend paying off your mortgage with it. WHAT? Yes, you heard me right - I am recommending that you payoff your first mortgage with a Home Equity Loan. Before running out and doing this on your own, I will tell you that you have to work with a financial expert to make this work otherwise, you will be in lots of trouble. There is a special software that will take into account all of your debts including your first mortgage and show you how to leverage short term interest and its payment cycles to pay off all of your debts, mortgage included, in the shortest amount of time - usually less than 10 years.

If you want more information on how to get this done, you can visit UFirst, or call me at 800-453-9290

Until next time,

Anthony

Sound advice and helpful money saving tips for your home purchase or refinance mortgage needs.

As doctors and hospitals turn to GE, Citigroup, and smaller rivals to finance patient care, the sick pay much more

Original post by AnthonyK