"Even after hitting the 20% mark, they insisted on an appraisal—at my expense, of course."
Interesting... did your lender mention if the appraisal had to show a specific home value increase, or was just hitting the 20% equity enough? Curious how strict they get with that.
Yeah, lenders can get pretty picky about that stuff. Usually, they're looking to confirm the home's current market value supports the 20% equity claim—not just your loan balance. Had a similar thing happen on one of my properties; appraisal came in slightly lower than expected, and they made me wait another six months before dropping PMI. Frustrating, but you're on the right track... hang in there.
Yeah, lenders definitely have their quirks with PMI. Had a client once whose appraisal missed the mark by just a hair—literally a couple thousand bucks—and the lender wouldn't budge until values rose a bit. It's frustratingly common, but patience usually wins out... eventually.
I'm curious—does anyone here have experience with requesting a new appraisal specifically to ditch PMI? We're refinancing now, and I'm pretty cautious about the timing. Values in our neighborhood seem to fluctuate a bit, and I'm worried about paying for an appraisal only to miss the mark by a tiny margin like your client did. Is it better to wait until you're absolutely sure your home's value has comfortably cleared that 20% equity threshold, or is it worth the risk to try earlier and potentially save sooner? I've heard some lenders can be pretty rigid about PMI removal, even if you're super close. Just trying to avoid unnecessary headaches (and fees) if possible...
We went through something similar last year—got a new appraisal hoping to ditch PMI, and missed by like $2k. Honestly, if your neighborhood values bounce around, I'd wait until you're pretty confident you've cleared that threshold comfortably. Otherwise, it's just frustrating and expensive...
