Is Now the Time to Get Rid of Your Mortgage Insurance?

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Filed under: Mortgage Insurance

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With the amount of appreciation that has happened over the last 12 months, you might be in a position to get rid of your mortgage insurance.

What’s Mortgage Insurance?

If you have it, then you already know what mortgage insurance is. If you put less than 20% down, then you will usually have some form of mortgage insurance.

You will hear people talk about no-mortgage insurance programs – but these options almost always result in a higher interest rate. If you put less than 20% down, you’re a riskier buyer, so the mortgage company will ask you to pay for the mortgage insurance coverage.

Year Over Year Home Values

Combine that with the year-over-year increases in median home prices. These numbers are flawed a bit – so the increase in median home price won’t correlate exactly with when your home will sell for today vs. 12 months ago. But it’s a pretty good indicator.

Year over year, 12% is a pretty accurate number for the appreciation we’ve seen in most areas – which is incredible considering everything that was happening.

How Much Did You Put Down?

If you put 10% down on a purchase last year, then you can likely refinance today and get rid of your mortgage insurance. Look at your mortgage insurance and call your servicer. Sometimes, you can just reach out to the provider and they will remove it for you.

Rates have come up just a little bit in recent days, but they are currently lower than the same time last year. So, you can refinance to get a slightly lower rate and get rid of your mortgage insurance, making your payment a bit better and you can pay off your house faster.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 70% of people who bought in November of last year put less than 20% down. For those people who put 10% or more down, they could probably get rid of the mortgage insurance by refinancing right now.

If you put 5% or 3% down, you probably won’t be able to get rid of the mortgage insurance by refinancing. But your insurance could be much less based on the new calculations.

When you are ready to take a look at your options, then let me know. Get in touch with a mortgage provider to see what the possibilities are. I’m here to help any time.

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