First Stop 4 Home Loans

If you’re in the loan process right now, your head is probably spinning with all the new information.  Throw in there a lot of references to insurance — insurance for the home (aka hazard insurance), for the mortgage company (aka PMI or MI) and title insurance.  Oh, and to confuse the matter more, you can actually purchase mortgage insurance on your loan (in case something happens to you, the loan will be paid).  What the heck is the deal with all these insurances and what is really protecting you?

I am so glad you asked.  Let’s just start with some explanatory definitions, then I will get to the meat of this.  Homeowner’s Insurance is insurance that covers your home and the contents in case of a catastrophe or burglary.  As lenders, your house is our collateral.  If something should happen to it, we want to make sure you have enough coverage to replace your home.  This is a policy you purchase with your current insurance agent or one I could refer you to. 

If you were to buy a townhome or condo, you may not need this type of insurance.  In most instances the homeowner’s association covers that with the owner’s association dues.  There are some changes that have occurred with investors in regards to requiring a separate policy.  If the association’s insurance policy only covers “studs out”, then you would need to buy a special policy called a HO-6 — basically, this will cover the “studs in”, which means, all your personal belongings along with cupboards, fixtures and appliances.  If the association does have the extra coverage, it is still advisable for you to get the HO-6 policy (just won’t be as expensive) to cover your personal belongings.  In this instance, proof of this would NOT be required at closing.

How about the “dreaded” Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) on conventional loans or Up-Front Mortgage Insurance (UFMIP) with FHA?  First of all, it’s not something to dread; it’s reality.  And in this day and time with all the private mortgage insurance companies that had to pay on claims due to foreclosure, it will never go away.  In a positive light, it allows you to do a minimum down program.  Anyway, the purpose for mortgage insurance is to insure the lender in case of default.  You remember AIG???  Who couldn’t forget the insurance  company that was bailed out … a few times, right?  They insured a lot of the high risk loans that were done in the past years.  No wonder it’s harder to get this type of insurance.  Only in the last few months have the PMI companies “let loose” a little to do 3% loans.  UFMIP is for FHA loans.  FHA is self-insured.  They have an up-front amount that is financed into your loan amount, as well as a monthly amount for insurance — which is lower than conventional insurance. 

Last, at least the last I intend to address, is Title Insurance.  This is the CHEAPEST insurance you will ever purchase.  There are two types of title insurance — lender’s and owner’s.  The lender’s policy is required to be purchased to insure the lender that they are in first lien position.  One of the title company’s jobs is to search public records at the county to check for any liens.  The title company can only find what is correctly recorded.  You have the  option to purchase a  policy for yourself, called an owner’s policy.  This protects YOU in the event any liens were to appear against the property that you didn’t incur.  For instance, let’s say that a few owners ago, a new roof was put on the home and the owners didn’t pay the contractor.  In order for the contractor to make sure he gets paid, he placed a lien against the home YOU’RE purchasing.  If recorded correctly, the title company will find this and require the seller to pay it off to give you free and clear title.  If, however, someone made a mistake at the county, then it may not show up.  Bummer deal is liens follow the address, NOT the person who incurred them.  Five years later you decide to sell and wah-la, a $5000 lien appears.  Hmmm — what to do?  You have a few options — pay it (cheerfully I’m sure :-D ), go to court to fight it or … drum roll please … at closing when you purchased your home, you purchased owner’s title insurance.  With this insurance, you pay ONCE, at closing, and it covers you for the ENTIRE time you own your home.  This insurance depends on the loan amount and sale price, but for first time buyers, it won’t be much more than $200 or so.  Paying just $200 to save $4000.  No brainer.  The two real estate attorneys I trust would NEVER let their clients close without it.  They spend way too much time fighting in court for other clients that don’t have the insurance.  Unpaid work is just an example of a type of lien, but there are more “opportunities” to have to use it — heirs to a property, divorce situation, many things that may put a  person in title to the home YOU own. 

The long and short — there are many types of insurance during this process.  The only one you have the CHOICE to purchase is the owner’s title insurance.  It’s a necessary, but cheap, evil and well worth the investment.  Just do it!

Tags: conventional, FHA, homeowner's insurance, loan process, PMI, private mortgage insurance, title insurance

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 10:00 pm by Darcy and is filed under Posts, The Home Buying Process, Tips & Tidbits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.