Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) protects the lender incase you default on your
mortgage. The buyer may need to pay up to a year’s worth of premium for this coverage
at closing.
PMI companies write insurance protecting approximately the top 20% of the mortgage
against default, depending on the lender’s and investor’s requirements, the loan-to-value
ratio, and the particular loan program involved. Should a default occur, the lender
sells the property to liquidate the debt, and is reimbursed by the PMI company for
any remaining amount up to the policy value.
Costs vary from insurer to insurer, as well as from plan to plan. For example, a
highly leveraged adjustable rate mortgage would require the borrower to pay a higher
premium to obtain coverage. Buyers with 5% down payment can expect to pay a premium
of approximately 0.78% times the annual loan amount ($92.67 monthly for a $150,000
purchase price). But the PMI premium would drop to around 0.52% times the annual
loan amount ($58.50 monthly) if a 10% down payment was made on the loan.
Borrowers can choose to pay the first-year premium at closing; then an annual renewal
premium is collected monthly as part of the house payment. Or the borrower can choose
to pay no premium at closing, but add on a slightly higher premium monthly to the
principal, interest, tax, and insurance payment. Buyers who want to sidestep paying
PMI at closing but not increase their monthly house payment can finance a lump-sum
PMI premium into their loan. With this type of payment plan, should the PMI be canceled
before the loan term expires (through refinancing, paying off the loan, or removal
by the loan servicer), the buyers may obtain the rebate of the premium.
The lender has an increasingly difficult task to be fair to the borrower while shopping
for the most effective method to soften liability. Sometimes, it may appear that
a lender has no justification for doing what he or she does – but if we look deeper,
it is undoubtedly there.
80-10-10 Financing?
It is called 80-10-10 financing because a savings and loan association, bank, or
other institutional lender provides a traditional 80% first mortgage, you get a
10% second mortgage, and make a cash down payment equal to 10% of the home’s purchase
price.
The same principle applies if you can only afford to make a 5% down, 80-15-5 financing
is also available.