The scheduled cancellation dates are calculated from what you paid. If the home is worth more now, an appraisal resets the math — sometimes by years.
Short version: Two years in at 75% loan-to-value, or five years in at 80%. You pay for the appraisal, usually $300 to $600, and your servicer orders it.
The 80% and 78% thresholds in federal law are tied to the original value of the home. If you bought at $350,000 and the house is now worth $470,000, those thresholds ignore $120,000 of equity you actually have.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicing guidelines allow a different calculation based on current market value. It is not a right under the Homeowners Protection Act — it is a servicer procedure — but for loans they own or guarantee, which is most conventional mortgages, servicers follow it.
| Loan age | Required loan-to-value |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years | Generally not eligible |
| 2 to 5 years | 75% or less of current value |
| 5 years or more | 80% or less of current value |
The seasoning requirement exists to prevent people from cancelling mortgage insurance on the strength of a short-term price spike. If you made substantial documented improvements, some servicers will consider a shorter timeline — ask.
Expect $300 to $600 for a full appraisal, paid by you. Some servicers accept a broker price opinion, which is cheaper, but you do not get to choose — the servicer selects the method and the appraiser. You cannot bring your own.
The question is whether the appraisal fee is smaller than the premiums you would otherwise pay before the scheduled cancellation date. If your PMI runs $180 a month and the scheduled date is four years out, you are looking at roughly $8,600 in premiums against a $500 appraisal. The decision is not close.
It gets closer when the scheduled date is near or when your loan-to-value is borderline. If you are only slightly under the threshold on your own estimate, consider that appraisals sometimes come in lower than owners expect — and the fee is not refundable if the answer is no.
See your own dates
Enter your loan and get all four cancellation routes with the date you qualify for each.
Before spending anything, check recent sales of comparable homes in your immediate area — same size, same condition, sold within the last six months. Online estimates from listing sites are a starting point but are frequently off by a wide margin in either direction, so treat them as a rough signal rather than an answer.
If your own estimate leaves comfortable room under the threshold rather than sitting right at it, the appraisal is a reasonable bet.
Call your servicer and ask three things: whether they permit cancellation based on current value, what loan-to-value they require given your loan's age, and what the valuation will cost. Get the answers before you commit to anything, and write down who told you.