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can i avoid pmi if i don't have a 20% down payment?

by PeterWerner from West Hollywood, California. Jul 17th 2013 Reply


William J Acres (William_Acres)
#74 ranked lender in Arizona - 8,728 contributions

the reality is that you cannot.. you either pay for it monthly, add an upfront premium to your financing, or pay a higher interest rate, but in any of these scenarios, your the one paying for it.. HomePath homes have no PMI, but you pay a much higher interest rate. VA offers no PMI on their loans, but you have to have VA Benefits available to you to get that type of loan. And you can also do a 80% first, 10% 2nd, with 10% down. However the interest rate on the 2nd will be much higher than your first, and your combined payment wont be that much less than if you just paid MI. So of all the different types of PMI to choose from, which way should you go??? Well if you do not have 20% down, you should pay monthly, and here's why... With monthly PMI, after 24 payments, if your property value has increased to a point where you have at least 20% equity, you can contact your lender and request to have the PMI removed. Your lender will require an appraisal, but it would still be worth doing to get the PMI removed, and you wont have to refinance to get it done. If you pay for PMI in an upfront premium, you cannot get the money back if your value goes up, and if your paying a higher rate in lieu of monthly MI, to remove it you have to refinance. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

Jul 17th 2013
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Justin Brown (justin_900_440)
#652 ranked lender in California - 24 contributions

Hi Peter, You actually can avoid having to pay PMI with as little as 3% down payment on a conventional loan. Id be happy to schedule an appointment with you, if you ever want to review those options in detail before you begin your home search.

Jul 17th 2013
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Hi Peter, you can avoid the PMI. However, the rate will be higher. The loan program is call Lender Paid MI which means the lender give you a higher rate to pay of the PMI. Call me at 714-943-6499 or email Robert @ gvlending.com for more information.

Jul 17th 2013
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Josh Lund (Josh_Lund)
#44 ranked lender in Minnesota - 113 contributions

You can. We have multiple lenders that do not require mortgage insurance. Also, we have conventional lenders with programs such as fannie mae home path!

Jul 17th 2013
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Jason Vondrak (jvondrak)
#220 ranked lender in California - 1,741 contributions

As others have stated, yes you can avoid PMI in some sense. Having the lender pay the PMI will give you a slightly higher interest rate to cover the costs.

Jul 17th 2013
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Yes you can, I offer the no PMI option with 5 % down on the Conventional loan. We're direct with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and as far as I know you have to put at least 5% down to buy out the PMI. I would ask for Seller Concession then pay the fee to waive the PMI with the concessions. Doing it this way will keep the rate as low as possible. If you do the Lender Paid Option your rate will be higher.Thanks

Jul 17th 2013
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Dave Metsker (DaveMetsker)
#35 ranked lender in Oregon - 2,318 contributions

Yes, with a higher interest rate.

Jul 17th 2013
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Carlo Sanchez (MortgageLendingPro)
#0 ranked lender in Utah - 1,163 contributions

Yes with a homepath loan

Jul 17th 2013
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Patrick Slattery (pslattery)
#38 ranked lender in Massachusetts - 5 contributions

Along with the options that the others have listed, I offer an 80/10/10 which is an 80% first mortgage, a 10% second mortgage. The other 10% would be your down payment. This is one way to avoid receiving a higher rate due to taking lender paid PMI. Good luck!

Jul 17th 2013
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Steven Cook (stcookmortgage@gmail.com)
#37 ranked lender in Washington - 256 contributions

As others have mentioned, it can be possible to avoid pmi -- on a monthly basis. However, it means that you have paid it up front; either directly,or by having funds from seller or lender. This becomes something you need to discuss with your local, licensed mortgage professional, who canlay out the specific costs for various options.

Jul 17th 2013
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Kiernan Brown (KiernanBrown)
#49 ranked lender in Michigan - 149 contributions

Any mortgage over 80% loan to value will either have some form of PMI whether it is an aditional monthly amount, is built in the rate, or is made in one upfront fee, is waht you will need to choose. There are a number of MI options, to eliminate a monthly MI, a single premium MI is what you will want. This is a one time payment that can be covered with sellers concessions. Call a qualified Lender 411 professional to learn more about your options. MI is not necessarily a bad thing if it helps you meet your wants and needs.

Jul 17th 2013
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James Mazzola (Mazzola)
#109 ranked lender in New Jersey - 314 contributions

The only real option is Lender Pain MI. They increase you rate to pay one time MI cost

Jul 17th 2013
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Bert Carpenter (BertCarpenter)
#37 ranked lender in Arizona - 2,431 contributions

Unless you are a veteran with VA loan eligibility, there is no way to avoid PMI if your loan exceeds 80% of the appraised value. You could purchase with 10% down and do two loans, a First for 80% and a second for 10%, but the net monthly payment is likely to be very close to the payment on a single loan at 90% with the PMI payment. I always recommend borrower paid monthly because the prepaid or lender paid options are for the life of the loan, but you only need PMI until you are at or below 80%, which is much sooner than you think. Some people will tell you that buying a HomePath property with HomePath financing, means there is no PMI. True, sort of... You are actually paying a much higher rate to compensate for the higher risk (because there is little equity). We call this lender paid PMI. You pay a higher interest rate for the life of the loan, and the lender assumes the risk that the PMI would have covered. Kind of like self insurance. The bottom line is this, if you do not have 20% equity, to the lender, you are a higher risk. With that risk, comes a price. The question is how you want to pay for it. ~ Bert Carpenter, The LoansA2z team of NOVA Home Loans ~ NMLS 40586 ~ Certified by the National Association of Mortgage Professionals and Licensed in California and Arizona ~ Licensed in California and Arizona ~ www.LoansA2z.com 888-889-9950

Jul 17th 2013
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David Sanders (David_Sanders)
#811 ranked lender in California - 59 contributions

Hi Peter, You have 3 options. Single Premium Monthly Mortgage Insurance, Lender paid mortgage insurance (which is built into the rate) or A Homepath or (Economic Opportunity Mortgage) Rates are slightly higher for this program and is about a wash anyways. You really won't be able to avoid it. Stick with the Single Premium monthly option right now. Then when your home value rises in 6-12 months you should be able to refinance out of it. Give me a call if you have additional questions or looking for a purchase loan quote. David Sanders. 760-616-1882 www.homeloansbydavidsanders.com www.crossroadsfunding.com NMLS 1052080 DRE 01930045

Jul 17th 2013
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Michelle Curtis Loan Originator NMLS 401173 (MichelleCurtisLO)
#77 ranked lender in Florida - 2,245 contributions

You can avoid paying a monthly payment, but you are ultimately pay a premium one way or the other once you go above 80% loan to value.

Jul 18th 2013
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