As you have probably noticed, the mortgage market is very different than it was a couple of years ago. You may find that it is much tougher to get a loan, and it is really tougher to find a lower interest loan. PMI, or private mortgage insurance, is also tougher to avoid.

What is PMI? It is a policy that protects your mortgage company, and not you, in case you default on your loan. They can be compensated for a loss on your home loan, but it does not remove your responsibility or help save your credit. Most lenders will require this coverage before they will qualify you for a loan. This reduces their risk when they loan you money. But it gives you a larger bill when you make your loan payments every month. So how can you avoid making this extra payment?

Do you have twenty percent of your purchase price to put down on your new home purchase? If so, you probably won’t be required to take out this extra coverage. If you purchase, for example, a two hundred thousand dollar home, and can put down forty thousand, you already have substantial equity. You are less risky to the mortgage company. But if you need a loan for the whole amount, you may need to make PMI payments that are one percent of the loan value per year. This means that $200K loan can cost you an extra two thousand dollars a year!

You can still find some ways to get out of this, even if you do not have a large down payment. These alternatives can be very important. You could probably think of a lot of other uses for your money besides helping to protect your mortgage company. You could use the money to get your loan paid off faster, for instance. You could also save it for an emergency or make home improvements that would increase its value. Almost any use seems better to me than spending it to cover your lender.

Consider an example of one way to cut out this cost. This consists of getting your lender pay the premium. They may raise your interest rate slightly if they agree to this. It is called Lender Paid PMI (LPPMI).

Let us say you have a 30 year fixed loan with a $15k balance and an interest rate of 5 1/2 percent. Your payment for the interest and princicpal would be about $850. In this case, the lender pays the premium in return for a little higher interest rate.

Now let us look at this same loan, even if you got a little bit lower interest rate of right above five percent, but had to pay PMI. Your payment would be about $960 a month for interest, principal, and PMI!

Let me remind you that this hundred dollars reduces the risk to your mortgage company. Why not let them pay for it?

Paying for the policy with one large premium, right up front, could give you a big discount on rates. This cost could be rolled into the actual loan at closing too. Even though you are borrowing the money you have to pay, it could be cheaper than making monthly payments on it.

A couple of years ago, it was very possible to avoid PMI without making a down payment. People took out an eighty percent loan from one company. They borrowed twenty percent from another lender. This meant they could get into a house without a down payment, and that they could avoid PMI. These are a lot tougher to find these days with tougher lending rules.

If you cannot pay a down payment, you really should question if the home purchase is right for you. We have seen a lot of tragedy this past year because people could not afford to keep their homes when they lost jobs or had other financial problems. Beyond the down payment, you will also need money for home insurance, repairs, and upkeep. Sometimes a home purchase makes sense, even if you do not have the money to make a big down payment. It is important to evaluate your own situation before you decide.

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