What do I need to know about lenders mortgage insurance and loan to value ratio?
Lenders mortgage insurance and your loan to value ratio are terms you will hear a lot of in your search for your first home and your perfect first home loan. So find out more about how LMI and LVR are calculated and how they apply to you.
What is LMI and how is it calculated?
It does not protect you it protects the lender. Lenders mortgage insurance protects your home loan provider if you default on your loan, and the provider makes a loss when they sell your home to cover their costs. If you want to insure your repayments if you are unable to meet your mortgage obligations, you will need to take out a separate personal insurance policy.
LMI is provided by an external insurance underwriter. Lenders mortgage insurance is organised by an external insurance provider and the premiums are determined by that insurance company based on the amount of your loan, your loan to value ratio, the stamp duty amount and type of loan.
Lenders mortgage insurance can be paid upfront or over the life of the loan. You can pay your LMI with your other loan application fees, or you can spread the cost out over the life of your loan by adding it to your loan amount.
You can avoid paying LMI you borrow 80% or less of the value of the property. This means if you can come up with a 20% deposit or more you will not have to pay any lenders mortgage insurance.




