What is PMI and why do you have to have it?
PMI is Private Mortgage Insurance. It is insurance that a lender or bank makes you get when you borrow over 80% of the value of the home. The more you borrow over 80 % the bigger the risk you are. So the bank makes you take insurance out to cover their risk.
The more you borrow the higher the PMI. Different banks determine PMI differently based on the type of loan, the length of the loan, and the percentage of loan as compared to the purchase price of the home. This is called LTV ( loan to value). If you borrow 95% as compared to 85% the PMI is going to be higher on the 95% because you are a bigger risk.
The only way you can get rid of PMI after you get it is to refinance out of it or pay your principal balance down on the loan to 78%. You cannot get an appraisal showing that the value of the home went up. (Even if the amount you owe is only 78% of the market value of the home). The only exception to this is if you did capital improvements to the home such as an addition. Then you have to document the improvements and get an appraisal done. Many times the bank requires you to use their appraiser or an appraiser on their approved list. So you are going to have PMI for at least 5-10 years usually.
So before you get a loan with PMI look at all your options. Some banks and lenders offer a loan with a higher interest rate where the PMI is built into the price. (There is no actual PMI but you are paying a higher interest rate). Or you can split your loan into 2 parts. You can do an 80% loan and then do a 2nd mortgage for the rest.
Let’s say that you want to borrow 95% on a purchase price of a $200,000 home.
You would be borrowing $190,000 total. You would split the loan into an 80% 1st mortgage of $160,000 and a 2nd mortgage of $30,000. You are still borrowing the same amount but split into two loans. The first mortgage is usually at a good rate and the 2nd mortgage is at a slightly higher rate.
When you borrow over 80% of the value of the home (or purchase price). You have three choices.
1) One loan with PMI
2) One loan with a higher rate that basically has the PMI built into the rate
3) Two loans. A first mortgage and then a 2nd mortgage with a slightly higher rate.
PMI is usually not tax deductible but in 2007 it was. It will be up to the law makers on how long it will stay tax deductible.
The bottom line is that you need to have your mortgage person (i.e. Russ Ravary) run the scenarios for all three. The one with the least expensive payment is usually the way you want to go. That is if PMI is still tax deductible, the lengths of the loans are the same, and the rates are fixed. (sometimes the rates on the seconds can be variable, be sure it is a fixed rate)
If you want more information on mortgages go to my website Michigan mortgages www.russravary.com. To to search Michigan homes in the privacy of your home at your convenience go to www.russravary.com
May your work week fly by and your weekend seem to last forever.
Russ Ravary
"your one stop mortgage and real estate specialist"
Showing posts with label search Michigan homes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label search Michigan homes. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Millage Rates in Michigan
Here is more on millage rates in Michigan.
The first year you are taxed on the SEV value and then from then on you are taxed on the taxable value. Taxable value can rise up to 5% or inflation which ever is less. But remember inflation on the house can be negative so sometimes taxable value and SEV can go down.
In a market where property values are rising SEV becomes less and less important to you after the first year because the taxable value should be less than the SEV. Usually when you are buying a house you will notice that if somebody has lived in the house a long time the taxable value is much lower than the SEV. That is because of Proposal A limits the increase in taxes per year. The estimated market value according to the state has risen faster than the taxable value. Proposal A saved us money!
However if values fall as they are now the assessor should lower the SEV. (they should but they don’t always do it because the city loses tax revenues). Let’s say you bought it for $300,000 in 2005, then the SEV is $150,000 in 2005. The assessor may say that the house is now worth 145,800 now so your taxes will go down in 2006. So let’s say you bought the home in 2005 at the peak of the housing market. Now two years later your house is worth less. It should reflect that in your SEV and taxable value. They both should have gone down.
The way you have to fight it is first get your facts. You need houses that have sold in the neighborhood and in the city that are comparable to yours. I.E. roughly same square footage, roughly same age, same style. They need to have sold for less than what your bought yours for and what your taxable value is. You need more than one house to support your claim. The more houses you have and the closer they are to your home the better chance you have of getting the assessor to agree with you and reduce your taxable value. Then you have to call the assessor’s office and find out the procedure to protest your taxes. Sometimes you can only do it once a year, sometimes you have to put it in writing, sometimes you have to go in front of a board.
It is worth the hassle! It will save you money for years to come when you get it corrected.
Want to figure out what your taxes are going to be? Here is the formula :
Value determined by assessor divided in half = SEV (State equalized value)
SEV X Millage rate = taxes
For example a you are buying a $400,000 house in Brighton. Let's say the SEV by coincidence corresponds to the purchase price. So the assessor estimated the house value at $400,000 too. So $400,000 X 50% = $200,000. So SEV is $200,000
$200,000 X .0361558 = $7,231.16 a year in taxes.
Two things to remember SEV can be less or more than the purchase price of the home or the offer that you are going to put in. But you are most likely going to pay based on the SEV unless you fight it with the tax board or assessor after you move in ( usually when you get your tax bill).
Remember this is only for homesteaded taxes. A homestead exemption, now known as a principal residence exemption may be used by a person who owns and occupies a home as their principal residence. If this is true, the person may claim an exemption from the 18 mills levied by local school districts for operating purposes. Again in English - Homesteaded taxes are a reduction in taxes based on that you use a home for your primary residence.
So Non-homesteaded taxes are on vacation homes, rental properties, and investment properties.
If you are not living there full time, you can not claim it. You cannot claim one house, and your wife, claim another. If you claim a homestead in another state you can not claim it here. If you try to cheat the state and they catch they can take away the homestead deduction on all your homes and make you pay back the taxes you should have been paying and penalty interest.
If you wish to search Michigan Homes or need more information on mortgages or real estate in Michigan go to my website http://www.russravary.com/
I hope this information on millage rates helped you. Russ Ravary
The first year you are taxed on the SEV value and then from then on you are taxed on the taxable value. Taxable value can rise up to 5% or inflation which ever is less. But remember inflation on the house can be negative so sometimes taxable value and SEV can go down.
In a market where property values are rising SEV becomes less and less important to you after the first year because the taxable value should be less than the SEV. Usually when you are buying a house you will notice that if somebody has lived in the house a long time the taxable value is much lower than the SEV. That is because of Proposal A limits the increase in taxes per year. The estimated market value according to the state has risen faster than the taxable value. Proposal A saved us money!
However if values fall as they are now the assessor should lower the SEV. (they should but they don’t always do it because the city loses tax revenues). Let’s say you bought it for $300,000 in 2005, then the SEV is $150,000 in 2005. The assessor may say that the house is now worth 145,800 now so your taxes will go down in 2006. So let’s say you bought the home in 2005 at the peak of the housing market. Now two years later your house is worth less. It should reflect that in your SEV and taxable value. They both should have gone down.
The way you have to fight it is first get your facts. You need houses that have sold in the neighborhood and in the city that are comparable to yours. I.E. roughly same square footage, roughly same age, same style. They need to have sold for less than what your bought yours for and what your taxable value is. You need more than one house to support your claim. The more houses you have and the closer they are to your home the better chance you have of getting the assessor to agree with you and reduce your taxable value. Then you have to call the assessor’s office and find out the procedure to protest your taxes. Sometimes you can only do it once a year, sometimes you have to put it in writing, sometimes you have to go in front of a board.
It is worth the hassle! It will save you money for years to come when you get it corrected.
Want to figure out what your taxes are going to be? Here is the formula :
Value determined by assessor divided in half = SEV (State equalized value)
SEV X Millage rate = taxes
For example a you are buying a $400,000 house in Brighton. Let's say the SEV by coincidence corresponds to the purchase price. So the assessor estimated the house value at $400,000 too. So $400,000 X 50% = $200,000. So SEV is $200,000
$200,000 X .0361558 = $7,231.16 a year in taxes.
Two things to remember SEV can be less or more than the purchase price of the home or the offer that you are going to put in. But you are most likely going to pay based on the SEV unless you fight it with the tax board or assessor after you move in ( usually when you get your tax bill).
Remember this is only for homesteaded taxes. A homestead exemption, now known as a principal residence exemption may be used by a person who owns and occupies a home as their principal residence. If this is true, the person may claim an exemption from the 18 mills levied by local school districts for operating purposes. Again in English - Homesteaded taxes are a reduction in taxes based on that you use a home for your primary residence.
So Non-homesteaded taxes are on vacation homes, rental properties, and investment properties.
If you are not living there full time, you can not claim it. You cannot claim one house, and your wife, claim another. If you claim a homestead in another state you can not claim it here. If you try to cheat the state and they catch they can take away the homestead deduction on all your homes and make you pay back the taxes you should have been paying and penalty interest.
If you wish to search Michigan Homes or need more information on mortgages or real estate in Michigan go to my website http://www.russravary.com/
I hope this information on millage rates helped you. Russ Ravary
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
No Money Down Purchase
Are you thinking of buying a home but you have no money to put down? There are still no money down mortgages. What that means to you is that you can actually still buy a home and not have any money in the bank or need money for closing. And it is perfectly legal!!! The banks will lend you the money at a higher interest rate (not much higher than normal).
The banks categorize you, the new home buyer as a higher risk since you do not have money, so they charge a little more. You will have to have good credit in this market to get a 100% financing loan.
Do you know what closing costs are? There are fees associated with closing on a home. You have to pay the seller of the home back for taxes he paid in advance, you have to pay for an appraisal, bank fees, and title costs. Depending what state you are closing in those costs can range from $1500 -$3000. But don't worry those costs can be covered too if you have a good real estate agent. Your real estate agent can put in the purchase agreement that the seller will pay 3% of the selling price towards your closing costs. You can actually buy a home with no money what so ever!!!
However it is better to put money down to buy a house. You will get a better rate, and most of all you will truly feel home ownership because you have something invested. You can get an FHA mortgage with only 3% down! I will go into that in my next blog.
If you are interested in finding out whether you qualify to buy a home, go to my web site on Oakland County Homes www.russravary.com You can email me from the site or fill out one of the many forms for information.
Also if you want to Search for Michigan homes free go to the site. Or click on search for Michigan homes free.
Drive safely and if you break a traffic law by accident may there be no policeman around to give you a ticket! Russ Ravary
The banks categorize you, the new home buyer as a higher risk since you do not have money, so they charge a little more. You will have to have good credit in this market to get a 100% financing loan.
Do you know what closing costs are? There are fees associated with closing on a home. You have to pay the seller of the home back for taxes he paid in advance, you have to pay for an appraisal, bank fees, and title costs. Depending what state you are closing in those costs can range from $1500 -$3000. But don't worry those costs can be covered too if you have a good real estate agent. Your real estate agent can put in the purchase agreement that the seller will pay 3% of the selling price towards your closing costs. You can actually buy a home with no money what so ever!!!
However it is better to put money down to buy a house. You will get a better rate, and most of all you will truly feel home ownership because you have something invested. You can get an FHA mortgage with only 3% down! I will go into that in my next blog.
If you are interested in finding out whether you qualify to buy a home, go to my web site on Oakland County Homes www.russravary.com You can email me from the site or fill out one of the many forms for information.
Also if you want to Search for Michigan homes free go to the site. Or click on search for Michigan homes free.
Drive safely and if you break a traffic law by accident may there be no policeman around to give you a ticket! Russ Ravary
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