I bought my home in the SF Bay Area last year just before getting priced out of the area. My home has appreciate by approximately 120k and I should have 20% equity.
We got an FHA loan with MPI of $300 a month. However because my wife is a school teacher we qualified for a state loan that paid our down payment for us. This special loan does not accrue interest and does not have to be paid back unless we sell or refinance.
I would have to roll over the state loan into the refinance. According to my mortgage broker we can eliminate the MPI and lower our payment by around $200. It would take about 18 months to recoup the cost of the refi, we plan on living here another 5-10 or even more years.
I have good credit 780+
Anything lm not considering? What other questions should I be asking?
I want to get rid of MPI and also save some on my monthly payment. Student loans and a baby on the way.
Getting rid of MIP is a great financial move. Shop around for refi rates. If you have an Amex card they were running a $2k cash back on Refis via Better.com. That would help offset the refi cost.
Have you called the current mortgage holder and ask if PMI can be dropped now that you own 20% equity in the current market value – without any refinancing? You might need to pay a one-time re-appraisal, but much better than losing an interest free loan that doesn’t actually have to be paid off. And that is likely to be cheaper than refinancing fees, points, etc.
Seems like that you would save you $300 a month iso $200 a month?
You might find this helpful, it talks about how to drop PMI and what legal recourse you have – bottom line, you have other options than refinancing.
https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/removing-private-mortgage-insurance/
Mortgage brokers can be very helpful, but they also make no money if they make no loans, so they have a vested interest in you taking out a loan. But if you lose what is effectively a free down-payment it sounds like an expensive choice.