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Post by mtdman on Dec 25, 2014 2:34:48 GMT -5
Anyone ever use those flooring tiles that elevate the basement floor? One side is plastic with maybe a half dozen feet sticking out a half inch or so, other side is wood. The idea is to elevate the floor surface slightly before putting down carpeting or flooring in the basement, so if there is a water problem it won't get the flooring wet. I need to do new carpet on the finished side, but was thinking about putting these down first to keep it dry. We don't usually get floods, but the basement is damp and I don't think its good that the carpet sits directly on the cement floor. We have only had a problem once on the finished side, when the sump pump failed and the whole basement had a little bit of water on the floor. But I'd like to keep the carpet dry if that happens again and was thinking about doing this before putting down the new stuff.
The drawback I can see with it though is it sounding 'hollow' when walking over it. It doesn't raise it much, but not sure if it makes the floor 'louder'.
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Post by Deuterium Oxide on Dec 25, 2014 9:44:18 GMT -5
Just like any other re-fi. My mortgage co actually called me and suggested it. I meant is Obama just ridding everyone with no terms? haahahaha, no not that I know of. my lender just called and said they had a program to rid people of their PMI. Not sure who was backing it. My house has appreciated enough now that I have more than the 20% equity required for normal mortgages also. Its all a hustle though. Interest rates are higher now than they were when i re-fi'd the last time. So the mortgage company gets to get a little more interest and cut the PMI company out. I will just re-fi when rates go down again but then I won't need the PMI.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 10:46:10 GMT -5
I meant is Obama just ridding everyone with no terms? haahahaha, no not that I know of. my lender just called and said they had a program to rid people of their PMI. Not sure who was backing it. My house has appreciated enough now that I have more than the 20% equity required for normal mortgages also. Its all a hustle though. Interest rates are higher now than they were when i re-fi'd the last time. So the mortgage company gets to get a little more interest and cut the PMI company out. I will just re-fi when rates go down again but then I won't need the PMI. I think it's HARP 2.0 actually... Not in your case, but there is something out there for no PMI on less than 20% equity. Reason I asked was that my equity is probably really close to that now, but I only put 15% down a few months ago.
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Post by philly on Dec 25, 2014 10:50:01 GMT -5
Get a home equity line from community financial and pay down your mortgage to 80%. No pmi. 2.25% interest.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 11:07:46 GMT -5
Yea I was thinking about doing that as an alternative. Much closing costs to do that?
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Post by joeking1978 on Dec 25, 2014 11:21:07 GMT -5
Get a home equity line from community financial and pay down your mortgage to 80%. No pmi. 2.25% interest. I thought you couldn't break up loans like this any more? Or is this a back door way of doing it? Ie, you have $20k equity on a $100k house. You take out an equity line for $20k and use it to pay down your 1st mortgage $20k to eliminate PMI?
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Post by philly on Dec 25, 2014 11:49:28 GMT -5
Yea I was thinking about doing that as an alternative. Much closing costs to do that? None
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Post by philly on Dec 25, 2014 11:51:50 GMT -5
Get a home equity line from community financial and pay down your mortgage to 80%. No pmi. 2.25% interest. I thought you couldn't break up loans like this any more? Or is this a back door way of doing it? Ie, you have $20k equity on a $100k house. You take out an equity line for $20k and use it to pay down your 1st mortgage $20k to eliminate PMI? Not sure. I was already below 80 with no pmi when I got mine. I'd ask the lenders to make sure it works.
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Pollux
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Post by Pollux on Dec 25, 2014 12:16:33 GMT -5
haahahaha, no not that I know of. my lender just called and said they had a program to rid people of their PMI. Not sure who was backing it. My house has appreciated enough now that I have more than the 20% equity required for normal mortgages also. Its all a hustle though. Interest rates are higher now than they were when i re-fi'd the last time. So the mortgage company gets to get a little more interest and cut the PMI company out. I will just re-fi when rates go down again but then I won't need the PMI. I think it's HARP 2.0 actually... Not in your case, but there is something out there for no PMI on less than 20% equity. Reason I asked was that my equity is probably really close to that now, but I only put 15% down a few months ago. I have a USDA Rural Development loan. It's backed by the government so I don't have to pay PMI. I only put around 8K down on a 201K mortgage.
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Post by joeking1978 on Dec 25, 2014 12:31:46 GMT -5
I thought you couldn't break up loans like this any more? Or is this a back door way of doing it? Ie, you have $20k equity on a $100k house. You take out an equity line for $20k and use it to pay down your 1st mortgage $20k to eliminate PMI? Not sure. I was already below 80 with no pmi when I got mine. I'd ask the lenders to make sure it works. Technically, I'm below 80% as well based on the appreciation and my payments the past 4yrs. Unfortunately, BB&T won't drop PMI until you have paid exactly 20% off the original mortgage amount. They won't streamline and/or take appreciation into account. So this might be a nice plan B if my refi doesn't work
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Post by Deuterium Oxide on Dec 25, 2014 12:40:40 GMT -5
I think it's HARP 2.0 actually... Not in your case, but there is something out there for no PMI on less than 20% equity. Reason I asked was that my equity is probably really close to that now, but I only put 15% down a few months ago. I have a USDA Rural Development loan. It's backed by the government so I don't have to pay PMI. I only put around 8K down on a 201K mortgage. yeah, that option wasn't available when we got the original load. My realtor believed that it applied to my neighborhood but we didn't research it more. We were thinking about buying another house here but the prices have gone up too much to make it truly feasible.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 12:55:20 GMT -5
Yea I don't think Phillys option works anymore.
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Post by philly on Dec 25, 2014 14:13:43 GMT -5
I know it doesn't if you use the same bank. Might work with a second bank. I don't know how the primary would even know.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 14:40:02 GMT -5
I know it doesn't if you use the same bank. Might work with a second bank. I don't know how the primary would even know. Wouldn't you need to notify your servicer? They collect my primary and PMI.
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Post by philly on Dec 25, 2014 14:48:12 GMT -5
I know it doesn't if you use the same bank. Might work with a second bank. I don't know how the primary would even know. Wouldn't you need to notify your servicer? They collect my primary and PMI. Yeah but they only see cash coming in to pay down the primary to below 80. They may be notified when a second lien is put on the house. I don't remember seeing that in paper work.
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Pollux
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Post by Pollux on Dec 25, 2014 16:14:49 GMT -5
I have a USDA Rural Development loan. It's backed by the government so I don't have to pay PMI. I only put around 8K down on a 201K mortgage. yeah, that option wasn't available when we got the original load. My realtor believed that it applied to my neighborhood but we didn't research it more. We were thinking about buying another house here but the prices have gone up too much to make it truly feasible. It's a bitch to refi though. If you go into a traditional mortgage then you have to pay the PMI. Not everyone knows how or is qualified to do RD loans.
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Post by Jive Turkey on Dec 26, 2014 9:58:30 GMT -5
Get a home equity line from community financial and pay down your mortgage to 80%. No pmi. 2.25% interest. How long does the equity line stay at 2.25%?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 10:07:48 GMT -5
I just can't imagine your primary doesn't find out you have 2nd lien. I think they find out immediately. The insurance is for them, no?
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Post by philly on Dec 26, 2014 14:14:00 GMT -5
It resets every six months I think. It's been there for three years.
I don't see why the primary would care. They get paid first if there is a default with or without a second lien.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 14:26:13 GMT -5
Take the 2009 recession. If I was a primary lender, I would absolutely want to know about helocs, considering they were causing defaults on properties that were losing value daily. Not to mention it impacts the cash flow of the borrower to actually repay the 1st position to begin with.
What was that bank you mentioned? I will try them Monday and report back.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 14:38:21 GMT -5
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Post by philly on Dec 26, 2014 22:17:33 GMT -5
Doesn't that say you can do it? Just have to pay it down to 75% if the loan was sold to Freddie Mac.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2014 22:22:39 GMT -5
Doesn't that say you can do it? Just have to pay it down to 75% if the loan was sold to Freddie Mac. These require an outstanding loan balance of 75 percent if you've lived in the home for at least two years. Otherwise, you must have an outstanding loan balance of 80 percent if you've been in the home for at least five years.
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Post by philly on Dec 26, 2014 22:34:15 GMT -5
I guess you're sol if it's less than two years.
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Post by philly on Dec 26, 2014 22:38:13 GMT -5
Don TaylorDear Dr. Don, I owe $72,000 on a condo worth $80,000. Consequently, I'm paying a $50 per month private mortgage insurance, or PMI, premium. I have $12,000 cash available to invest. Would it make sense to make a lump payment on my mortgage to bring me below 80 percent, so I can eliminate my PMI? Seems this would be by far my best return on investment when compared to investing in my 401(k), stocks, etc. Thanks. -- Jason Jump-start Dear Jason, Paying down the principal balance on your mortgage to get out from under PMI can make sense as an investment as long as you understand the rules. There are two sets of rules concerning terminating PMI. The first are the provisions of the Homeowner's Protection Act, or HPA, of 1998; the second are more consumer-friendly guidelines established by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The Homeowner's Protection Act requires the lender to cancel PMI when your loan balance reaches 78 percent of the original purchase/appraised value. You can petition the lender to drop the PMI requirement when your mortgage loan balance reaches 80 percent of the original purchase/appraised value. There are other conditions that have to be met as well. You have to be current on your loan and have had no payments that were 30 days late within 12 months of the request. The lender may also require evidence that the value of the property has not declined below its original value and that there is no second mortgage on the property. Your lender is required to provide you with information about canceling your PMI at least annually. The mortgage service also is required to provide a telephone number you can call for information about termination and cancellation of the PMI policy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines consider the current appraised value of the property, not the original purchase price/appraised value, in determining whether you can cancel PMI. The loan has to be seasoned, meaning you've made payments for at least two years. You can't have had a 30-days-late payment in the past 12 months or a 60-days-late payment in the last 24 months. You initiate the request to terminate the PMI policy and are responsible for the cost of an appraisal acceptable to the agency and the lender -- so don't just hire any appraiser. You can terminate PMI if the mortgage loan balance is 75 percent or less of the appraised value after 24 months or 80 percent of the appraised value after five years of making payments. Getting out from under a $50 monthly payment by investing $12,000 in prepaying your mortgage is equivalent to earning 5.12 percent on your money on a pretax basis. Is it a smart investment? Yes, unless by spending the money you're leaving yourself with no emergency fund. It also doesn't make sense if you're not contributing up to the limits of any employer match on your 401(k) plan. In most cases, that means you're giving up a 50 percent return on your contribution, and 50 percent trumps 5.12 percent. Read more: www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/pour-money-into-mortgage-dump-pmi.aspx#ixzz3N49F9ZKZ Follow us: @bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook
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