Should You Avoid PMI? Or Buy Now?
It’s a type of insurance no one likes to pay: private mortgage insurance, an insurance that protects mortgage lenders if you eventually default on your mortgage loan. Depending on the size of your mortgage, private mortgage insurance, better known as PMI, can add $100 or more to your monthly mortgage payment if you don’t first come up with a down payment of 20 percent of your home’s purchase price.
But is it worth it to scrape together the funds for a 20 percent down payment just to avoid PMI? The answer to that is complicated and depends largely on your financial situation. But there is one clear benefit to buying a home, and taking on that PMI payment, even if you can’t afford 20 percent down: The sooner you get into a home, the faster you can start building equity.
If you are renting now, you could lose plenty of money if you wait to buy a home until you have that 20 percent down. The money that you pay in rent each month goes directly to your landlord. If you were in a home and paying a mortgage instead, you’d be building equity, and that’s valuable.
This chance to build equity sooner is the number-one reason why it sometimes makes financial sense to take that monthly PMI payment.
You can avoid PMI … but should you?
There is a way out of paying PMI: If you come up with a down payment equal to 20 percent or more of your home’s final purchase price, you won’t have to pay for PMI. That’s because lenders think you’ll be less likely to default on your loan, whether you are taking out a conventional loan or a government-insured loan such as an FHA loan or VA mortgage if you have more money invested in it upfront. With the bigger down payment, lenders consider you less of a risk.
Consumers might hate PMI, but lenders say this insurance isn’t all bad and has played an important role in boosting homeownership.
That's because PMI makes lenders comfortable enough to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars to borrowers who don't provide a down payment of at least 20 percent of a home's price, said Megan Ware Marsh, co-founder of Keystone Alliance Mortgage in Erie, Pennsylvania. If PMI didn't exist, borrowers would have to provide that 20 percent down. For a home costing $200,000, that comes out to a down payment of $40,000, a lot of money.
Today, buyers can put down far less, with lenders often approving loans with down payments as low as 3 percent of a home's final purchase price. Ware Marsh says that the median down payment for first-time homebuyers is a far more affordable 6 percent of a home's price, while that figure rises to 14 percent for repeat buyers.
Paying PMI can also get you into a home and out of renting an apartment earlier. It might take you months to save up enough for a down payment of 20 percent. While you're saving, you'll be making regular rental payments to your landlord, payments that don't earn you anything financially.
But by accepting PMI when you can't afford a 20 percent down payment, you'll be able to get into a home earlier. Instead of sending payments to your landlord, you can send them to your mortgage lender and build equity in your home.
Equity is the difference between what you owe on your mortgage and how much your home is worth. if you owe $150,000 on your mortgage and your home is worth $200,000, you have $50,000 in equity. You can borrow against this equity in the form of home equity loans or lines of credit for anything from a major kitchen remodel to paying down your high-interest rate credit card debt.
Other financial factors
When homebuyers don't put as much money down, they can use those dollars to instead pay off high-interest-rate credit card debt, build an emergency savings fund or boost their retirement savings, Ware Marsh said.
"I would rather see buyers invest money in their retirement or pay off debt than pay an extra $10,000 on their mortgage that will only reduce their payment by $50 a month," Ware Marsh said.
Recent Articles
Wave of Home Equity Defaults Coming?
Aaron Crowe
How Refinancing Can Hurt Insurance Rates
Kara Johnson
How can I get preapproved for a home loan?
Kirk Haverkamp
Proof of Income for a Mortgage
Kirk Haverkamp
