Is private mortgage insurance good or bad?
Unless you are involved with real estate you probably have never heard of PMI. No. It’s not a serious disease. In fact, PMI can be extremely beneficial if you are a “cash challenged” home buyer without a sufficient down payment. PMI stands for “private mortgage insurance.” It has enabled millions of house and condo buyers to purchase with zero, 5 percent or 10 percent cash down payments. Please be aware PMI is not the same as FHA home loan mortgage insurance, which is FHA-insured and has nothing to do with conventional mortgage PMI. But PMI can be very expensive for home buyers. More irritating, when the need for PMI ceases to exist, because the home has appreciated in market value or the homeowner has added extensive home improvements, getting rid of the PMI monthly premiums can be extremely difficult, or even impossible if the lender is uncooperative. THE MAJOR BENEFITS OF P.M.I. Private mortgage insurance protects institutional mortgage lenders from foreclosure loss due to their ris
