Feels like a new life

[Sparafusile]

Hello folks! I've been pretty quiet lately so I figured I'd share some updates and ask some questions. First the updates:

• On June 2nd my wife and I had our wedding. We had been married for a year (my wife needed health insurance), but finally celebrated with friends and family. We did the whole thing very low budget  - our entire wedding cost less than the photographer at my sister's wedding 1 month later. In fact, if you had showed up early you would have seen the bride and groom laying out the place settings. It was short, sweet, cheap, and a lot of fun.
  
  
• I started a new job. There was a poll here earlier that asked everybody how happy they were with their job. I was the first one to respond that I hated my current job. What I didn't say was that, at the time, I was actively looking for a new job. It took almost 7 months because one of the requirements was that I would have health insurance. My wife is a small business owner and cannot afford to purchase health insurance at this time.
  
  
• My wife payed off her car loan 4 years early. We are now debt free except for the mortgage and her small business loan. I had suggested it several times to her, but she never wanted to bite the bullet. After making the last payment she said it was a good choice.
  
  
• I wrote and published my fourth book and first e-book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BSC0VE  In all, I spent 2 weeks writing it and about 2 months editing. Thanks to Grigory for lighting the fire (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/ebook-passive-income/msg5645/#msg5645) and madgeylou for making it look easy (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/just-published-my-first-e-book!/msg14127/#msg14127).
  
  
• My new job is about 20 miles away from where I live compared to 6 miles for my old job. To make matters worse, most of the route is city driving. Before I started I estimated that it would cost me close to $600 a month to drive and park in the city. Fortunately, there is a bus line that comes within 2 miles of my house and 2 blocks from my office. I only pay $60 a month for a pass which I think is a much better deal. I get to catch up on some reading to and from work as well!
  
  

Now for a question I'm hoping somebody can help me with. I recently passed the 20% equity threshold on my home mortgage. I got a letter in the mail giving me instructions on how to cancel the PMI. One of these steps is paying for an appraisal to ensure the value of the house hasn't dropped. Unfortunately, my neighborhood was foreclosed on in 2008 which means no new homes have been built and none have sold at a reasonable price. Previous attempts at refinancing have hit a road block at the appraisal because they say one cannot be done when similar homes haven't sold on the market. Is there any way to get the PMI dropped without having an appraisal?

[velocistar237]

Congrats on your wedding and progress in general!

Is there any way to get the PMI dropped without having an appraisal?

It's up to your bank. Hopefully you can work something out. It might not have to be an actual appraisal; they might accept an independent broker's opinion, for example.

I have a hard time believing that an appraisal can't be done. There has to be a way to get an appraisal without comps. Maybe an appraisal for PMI cancellation might be easier to get than one for refinancing, or maybe the bank will let you choose the appraiser, meaning you can call around until you find someone who will do it.

One thing: IANAL, but my reading of the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 is that if your property value has dropped from the original value, then the lender doesn't have to cancel PMI ahead of schedule, no matter how far down you pay the loan. If the notice you got doesn't talk about this, you should call and ask whether it's their policy to cancel PMI at 80% LTV of a recent appraisal. If they don't, and you're sure your property value has dropped, then you might want to save that appraisal fee for when you figure out how to get an appraisal for refinancing. My guess is that most banks will cancel PMI early at 80% LTV even if the property value has dropped, but I'd want to make sure.

In any case, you should send in that cancellation request. It can't hurt. The notice our bank sent talked about an appraisal, but in the end, they didn't ask for it.

[Debbie M]

You can also get out of paying PMI by paying off the mortgage ASAP.  (That's the only way I could figure out how to do it.  My PMI was too low to justify that expense and my lender would not let me talk them out of it.)