Escrow Analysis

We just received our annual Escrow Analysis from the mortgage company, where they re-calculate how much we need to set aside in escrow for property taxes & insurance for the upcoming year. The total amount estimated came to $3643.31, for a required monthly escrow payment of $303.61, a reduction of almost $60/mo.

There is some regulation that only allows them to keep a "cushion" of 2 months worth of escrow (so when everything is paid, they would still have an extra $607.22 - which could be used in case property taxes or homeowners insurance premiums increase). The cushion in our account exceeds that amount, so they also notified us that we'll be getting a refund check for $145 next month. 

Because our property values have declined so much over the past year and a half, our taxable value has actually been dropping. We received our assessed value statement from the City, and they estimated that, as of January, our property had gone down by nearly $14,000 from the same time last year.... and it has continued to decline since then. 

The plus side is that this means our property taxes have gone down too. For the upcoming year, our property taxes will be almost $250 less than what we paid this past year. This decrease in taxes was not reflected in the latest escrow analysis, so I expect that we'll get a refund of $250 next summer.