When Can I Finally Ditch Mortgage Insurance?

"Extra payments toward principal are especially helpful because they directly reduce your loan balance, getting you closer to that magic 80% loan-to-value ratio faster."

This is spot-on advice. I tried the whole "upgrade and appraise" route too—new deck, fresh paint, fancy fixtures... nada. The real progress came when I started tossing a little extra toward principal each month. It felt slow at first, but suddenly I realized I was way closer to ditching PMI than I'd expected. Patience pays off, even if it's not as fun as shiny countertops, lol.