Mortgage Help

Your appraisal is less than worthless. ONLY the banks appraisal means anything. Chase has 3.75% right now BTW so you should refinance. I would not count on getting rid of PMI but you never know.

Quote from n0s : I am currently with Chase and have a rate of 5.125% and pay PMI. I am looking to either remove PMI and/or refinance at a lower rate. My principal balance is about 15% less than the original appraisal amount. and about 17% less than the zillow estimate. I've made some nice improvements on the house should I have it reappraised? who should I contact to try and refinance or how do I go about removing PMI? I live in Ann arbor, MI if that is needed to help suggestions. Thank you for reading and I greatly appreciate the help.

When was your current loan originated? If owned by Fannie or Freddie prior to June 1, 2009 the HARP product may help you in this case as value will not be as a significant factor.

The current appraisal will be based on recent sales of comparable homes in your immediate area. Comparable sales are based on many factors; and while nice improvements are a plus, do not expect them to make your home worth that much more than the sales of similar sized, style, age, other homes; just more marketable if yours ever went to market.

If the sales do indeed warrant a higher value for your home and you can lower your Loan To Value that is always a plus; and the MI on 85% LTV is less than 90%. But if sales dictate a higher LTV then HARP may help you in that respect by maintaining the same level you have (in lieu of worse).

Contact an experienced Michigan Mortgage Broker as they can best evaluate your individual scenario.

-Adam
Old Hippy & Mortgage Pro

dealgate: thank you for the information I will have to evaluate the fees to see how long I have to stay in the house to justify the refinancing.

Tiedyed: Loan origination date is 4-22-10 so that counts me out. I think at this point Im going to try and find an experienced broker I just have a hard time trusting anyone as they usually are looking out for their best interest and not mine.

Still welcoming any suggestions and thank you again.

If you feel that you're borderline on 20% equity, then you probably don't want to touch the loan until you're comfortably over 20%.

Do you plan on paying the closing costs of a refi out of pocket or rolling them into the loan? If you roll them in, that subtracts from your equity and your LTV (loan to value) amount goes up - meaning your PMI stays with you.

If you have a good amount of cash and are willing to part with it to hit the equity mark, go for it. Your long term savings would be substantial over the next 28 years (assuming its a 30 year).

If you have a FHA or VA loan you may be eligible for their respective 'Streamline' programs.

Starting June 11, 2012 if you currently have an FHA loan you may qualify for a refinance that will reduce your upfront mortgage premium to only .01 percent and your annual premium of .55 percent!

Just something to consider...

I found this blog informative...http://activerain.com/blogsview/3...nance-loan

To calculate your potential mortgage and costs, you can use the mortgage calculator from GinnieMae. The Federal Reserve Board has a mortgage comparison calculator.