Mortgage insurance is a term that you will come across if you are going for a mortgage loan and it's a great tool for both the mortgage borrower and lender. Basically, mortgage insurance provides protection to the mortgage lender in case the borrower defaults on the mortgage. Mortgage insurance covers the loss that a mortgage lender can incur in such a circumstance. So besides taking title to property, the mortgage lender is also protected against loss by mortgage insurance.
The premium of this mortgage insurance is paid by the borrower and there are different ways in which the borrower can pay this mortgage insurance premium. The most common way to do this is to include it as part of the monthly mortgage payments that are made to the mortgage lender. The lender will of course in turn pass the money paid to the insurer. But wait, how does mortgage insurance benefit the borrower?
Well as you know, a mortgage is a rather big financial transaction. Because of this, mortgage lenders feel the need to safeguard their interest. To do this, lenders require the mortgage borrow to demonstrate their commitment to the loan. And one way of doing this is to make a down payment. Mortgage lenders generally ask for a down payment of around 20% but if the borrower agrees to mortgage insurance, the amount is usually reduced significantly.
What this means is that the amount the borrower needs to put down for a down payment may only be 5% or 10% of the usual 20%. This is great for people who don't have enough to make large down payments, so yes, you can save by going for mortgage insurance. What's more, since mortgage insurance provides a lot of confidence to the mortgage lenders, the processing of your mortgage application is much faster and smoother.
As you can see, mortgage insurance has benefits for both the borrower and the lender. So if you're looking to sign up with a mortgage lender, be sure to enquire about mortgage insurance. You might just save yourself some money and more importantly, time.