New Appraisal to remove PMI

I'm not sure, and interested to know, from a timing perspective if anybody's bank has allowed them to order the new appraisal and then put up the remainder of the money to get to the 20% threshold. I know some banks allow you to pay for an approved appraisal through the bank, and have PMI dropped if you are in an equity position of 20%, but I'm assuming that's based on your equity at the time of request.

It doesn’t seem to apply considering the amount you are willing to put down, but you should be aware of one thing: this only works on conventional loans, and you should be able to simply reappraise without refinancing. Check lender terms. They might have weird requirements as well.

But if it is an FHA loan, you HAVE to refinance remove PMI.

You’ll still be paying PMI with a loan to value of 2%

From my dealings with my mortgage holder, as soon as my mortgage meets these requirements I can have my home reappraised to have PMI removed.

-Loan has to be at least 2 years old
-2-5 years LTV has to be 75%
-5+ years LTV has to be 80%
-Appraisal cost is on the homeowner. My letter says this cost is typically ~$150.00 or may be higher if a full appraisal is required.

That being said, I did reach out to a GMFS rep about a year ago doing some refinancing research and she did tell me it was possible to refinance out of PMI under the right circumstances. She didn't elaborate further but I would imagine the most important thing would be making damn sure LTV would be under 80% otherwise refinancing for the purpose of removing PMI is pointless. Also I'm ignorant to all of the costs associated with refinancing so you'd have to figure out your break-even time frame to see if it's worth doing.

Contact your lender. I will reach 80% LTV this year and they sent me step by step instructions on how to do the process.

I reached out to my mortgage lender as well about removing PMI and I also could get it off with a new appraisal put the value at 75% without any substantial upgrades to the property. It was before 5 years so I am waiting a couple extra months to see if once we have had the property for 5 years they will take it off at 80% of new appraisal value.

Does anyone know if something changes at that 5 year mark? They wouldn’t answer any hypotheticals when I called them, and my mortgage is through Wells Fargo.