Buying your home is one of the most exciting and often stressful times. Excitement and anxious suspense is in the air as you are making one of the biggest investment decisions of your life.
After spending months shopping for your dream home you finally make the decision to purchase the house you’ll call your own home. This is the time when for weeks you are shopping for the best mortgage rate. Your lender suggest taking out mortgage insurance to protect your prized assets.
Your home is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make. When you arrange a mortgage with a financial institution they must ask you if you want to insure your mortgage through them.
When years ago we bought our first home and I had little knowledge about how mortgage insurance works my broker looked at me and she said:
“Legally, in Canada Mortgage Brokers MUST to offer Mortgage Life Insurance with every mortgage they place. We are no insurance people, and even if we don’t believe in the product, legally we are bound to offer it. I prefer to advice my clients to talk with a Financial Planner, who is an expert in the field, someone who will actually see that you are qualified AND covered in case the worst happens”
Then she looked at my 3 kids and said:” Make sure you have a personal term insurance, as you have 3 kids and you can’t take a chance”. I was blessed with an honest broker because back in those days I would of take whatever she would offer me. I didn’t know better and I trusted her. Sometimes just because people are nice and we “feel” that we can trust them they may not always put your best in front of their own commission.
On the surface it sounds like a good idea: protecting your loved ones against a serious illness or death seems like a prudent decision, so at the lender’s suggestion you decide to take on the premium to your mortgage payment.
This scenario unfolds hundreds of times each week yet many consumers still do not realize that they may getting ripped off.
To find out why a mortgage insurance my not be your best alternative GO The Dark Side of Mortgage Insurance
Watch the video related to mortgage insurance
You have to insure your home. But do you really have to insure that mortgage too? It’s called private mortgage insurance, and according to money expert Stacy Johnson, for many people, it’s expensive and unnecessary.
Help answer the question about mortgage insurance
Savings on state taxes for mortgage insurance payments?I know that you can use itemized deductions on federal taxes, for the mortgage insurance paid, and property taxes paid.
1. Are there any other itemized deductions which can be claimed on federal forms?
2. Are there any deductions that I can claim on State forms?
Thanks.
I am considering moving to either Maryland or Virginia.
About Author
Piri D. is in her mid thirties, happily married and mother of three good amazing kids. She is a debt reduction champion with a passion for showing individuals how to budget, helping people make better financial choices while still working, and help those who are preparing for retirement to establish a plan that will provide the lifestyle they need to live with dignity. She takes an educational approach to help people understand about their financial plan and the financial products they have work for their best.
To find out more http://www.thefinancialpower.com
PMI is a ripoff….AIG was supposed to help banks who had defaulted mortgage loans but instead it went bankrupt! Now the tax payer must save AIG so what good is PMI if the banks cannot insure the mortgage loan?
Mortgage insurance is also called decreasing term. It's for the remainder of the mortgage, if you die, and only pays the payoff. It costs MORE than regular term.
So, you're BETTER off if you buy a level term policy – it's cheaper, and it DOESN'T decrease each year.
There's ALSO disability coverage. It's a different policy, and depending on your ages/health, it can be pretty expensive. Unemployment is NOT a private coverage in the us, you can ONLY get it through your state unemployment office.
Talk to your agent that does house and auto – ask him if he sells level term coverage, and/or disability coverage. If he doesn't, ask him for a LOCAL referral. IF you're with a direct writer, ask a neighbor or friend who their local agent is.
I really really strongly recommend dealing with a local agent. If you can't find one, these guys are pretty good, and licensed in most of the 50 states: http://www.zanderins.com