How to Make a Small Space Feel Larger

       
Pages of glossy magazines are often filled with immense rooms and oversized spaces full of grandeur and twelve-foot ceilings. But the truth is that most of us live in houses, apartments or townhomes built on a much smaller scale. When faced with the size of some of these tiny rooms, it’s easy to get frustrated when you’re trying to decorate.

But what if those rooms could feel even bigger? What if you could visually add space with a few small changes? What if there were tips and tricks and ideas to make a small room appear larger?

Good news! There are.

If you’re tired of feeling crowded in your home, all you need is a new direction. If you have a small space that you want to grow, here are a few ideas and a little inspiration to get you started.

1. Pick a Light Wall Color

You can visually change the size of a space with color. Darker colors are often used to make a room feel cozier and smaller. By contrast, lighter colors go a long way in helping to make the walls of a small space appear larger to the eye. Select light grays, whites, khakis and neutrals to help expand the visual impact of a room, like this small office space. Light floors, neutral walls and simple, classic decor give the eyes a place to rest.

Another space-expanding tip is to paint moldings the same or similar color as the walls. Contrasting molding can actually visually reduce the height of the ceilings in a room. By painting moldings to blend in with the existing walls, the room appears much larger. Here, the floor molding is painted white and the raised panel molding on the walls is painted to match the gray wall color, extending the expanse of the wall even further.

2. Keep Upholstered Furniture Neutral

Sometimes neutral walls can seem a little boring when designing a room. An accent wall might be the answer if you keep the larger pieces of furniture and accessories in more neutral hues.

To add depth to the space, draw the eye toward the accent wall by surrounding it with neutral furnishings. For example, the gray couch with white piping and the two adjoining accent chairs in a khaki linen help to balance out the pop of color on the accent wall. The pieces are in scale with the room and blend into the background, making the room appear bigger. In addition, the curtains, accessories and flooring are neutral as well, providing a visually large framework for this tiny living room.

3. Draw the Eye Upward

One of the simplest ways to make a room appear larger is to draw the eye upward. Giving the eye something to focus on in the upper part of the room creates the illusion that the space is actually bigger than it is. An easy trick is to paint a design on the ceiling, add a decorative medallion or install a beautiful light fixture.

A tone-on-tone painted wall treatment can also give the illusion of space in a room. A vertical pattern on the walls, such as harlequins or vertical leafy branches, helps to elongate a room. For example, in this small entryway, the painted gray and white stripes help to create the impression that the walls are actually taller than they are.

4. Don’t Overlook the Flooring

Creating a focal point with rugs and decorative flooring also helps to open up a space. A floor with texture or a light color often creates the impression that the room is visually grounded. A small space can appear much larger with a simple design placed strategically on the floor.

Here, the floor tiles laid in a diamond pattern and the contrasting design of the decorative area rug help to establish a foundation to build the room upon. This small butler’s pantry opens up with neutral walls and accessories, textured baskets, a decorative light fixture and the patterned color on the floor.

When planning smaller spaces, it is important to remember a few key points. Make sure to consider a neutral color when painting the walls. If you want to add a colorful accent wall, the rest of the larger furnishings and accessories in the space should be neutral. Keep it simple with patterns, textures and decorative flooring. Lastly, draw the eye upwards with a creative accent on the ceiling. Then, sit back and watch your room truly live large.

Written by KariAnne Wood

Market Commentary for the Week of August 29th

This week brings us the release of seven pieces of economic data for the markets to digest, including a couple of extremely important reports. There is relevant data being posted each day of the week, but the most important stuff comes during the latter days.

Unlike many Mondays, this one does bring us one of those reports. July’s Personal Income and Outlays report will be released early Monday morning, giving us a measurement of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. It is expected to show an increase of 0.4% in income and a 0.3% increase in spending. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, weaker than expected numbers would be considered good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.

The Conference Board will post their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for August late Tuesday morning. This index measures consumer sentiment about their personal financial and employment situations, giving us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. A decline in confidence would indicate that surveyed consumers probably will not make a large purchase in the immediate future. That would be a sign of economic weakness and should drive bond prices higher, leading to lower mortgage rates Tuesday. It is expected to show a reading of 97.0, which would be a small decline from July’s 97.3. The lower the reading, the better the news for bonds and mortgage pricing.

Wednesday’s only data worth watching is the ADP Employment report before the markets open. This release has the potential to cause some movement in the markets if it shows much stronger or weaker numbers. It report tracks changes in private-sector jobs of the company’s clients that use them for payroll processing. I don’t have much faith in the data but the markets do react to it, so we watch it. It is expected to show 170,000 new private-sector jobs were added last month. A higher number would be negative news for mortgage rates while a much smaller than expected increase would be favorable.

There are two reports scheduled for Thursday. The first is the revised 2nd Quarter Productivity numbers that measure employee productivity in the workplace. Strong levels of productivity allow the economy to expand without inflation concerns. It is expected to show a downward change from the previous estimate of a 0.5% decline. Forecasts are currently calling for a 0.6% decrease, meaning productivity was weaker than previously thought. This would be negative news for the bond market and mortgage rates, but the markets will be more focused on the day’s next release than this data.

Thursday’s big news will be the release of the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index at10:00 AM ET. This index measures manufacturer sentiment and is expected to show 52.2, slipping from last month’s reading of 52.6. A reading below 50 is considered a recessionary sign because it means that more surveyed manufacturers felt business worsened during the month than those who felt it had improved. A larger than expected decline in the index would likely cause selling in the stock markets and lead to an improvement in mortgage rates Thursday.

The biggest news of the week comes Friday morning. The Labor Department will post the unemployment rate, number of new jobs added or lost and average hourly earnings for August early Friday morning. The ideal scenario for the bond market and mortgage rates is rising unemployment, a drop in payrolls and earnings to fall slightly. Analysts are expecting to see that the unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 4.8% and that 180,000 jobs were added during the month. Weaker than expected readings would signal employment sector weakness and would be very good news for bonds and mortgage rates Friday. However, if we get stronger than expected numbers, mortgage rates will probably spike higher Friday as it would give the Fed a good reason to raise key short-term interest rates sooner than later.

July’s Factory Orders data will close out this week's calendar late Friday morning. This report measures manufacturing sector strength and is similar to last week’s Durable Goods Orders, but includes orders for both durable and non-durable goods. It is expected to show a 2.0% increase in new orders. A smaller than expected rise would be favorable for bonds, but I don’t see this data causing much movement in rates unless its results vary greatly from forecasts since the big-ticket products portion of the report was released last week and the monthly Employment report is considered to be a key release.

Overall, Friday is likely to be the most important day for mortgage rates but Thursday could also be pretty active. The best candidate for calmest day is Wednesday, assuming that the ADP release shows no surprises. Tuesday also carries the possibility of being one of the calmer days of the week. However, I believe we are in for an active week in the financial and mortgage markets. Therefore, please proceed carefully if still floating an interest rate and closing in the near future.

Market Commentary for the Week of July 25th

    
This week brings us the release of six economic reports that may impact mortgage rates, one of which is considered to be highly influential. In addition to the economic data, there is also another FOMC meeting that certainly has the potential to cause chaos in the markets and a couple of Treasury auctions mid-week. There is at least one event set for every day except Monday, so there is a strong likelihood of seeing noticeable mortgage rate movement and possibly multiple intra-day revisions this week.

June’s New Home Sales report will kick off this week's calendar at 10:00 AM ET Tuesday. This Commerce Department report gives us another measurement of housing sector strength. Analysts are expecting it to show an increase in sales of newly constructed homes, indicating that the new home portion of the housing sector strengthened a little last month. That would be considered negative news for bonds, but since this data tracks only a small percentage of all home sales it usually has little impact on the bond market and mortgage rates unless it varies greatly from forecasts. Last week's Existing Home Sales report covers most of the home sales in the U.S.

Late Tuesday morning the Conference Board will release their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for July. This index measures consumer sentiment, giving us an idea of consumer willingness to spend. If consumers are more confident in their own financial and employment situations, they are apt to make large purchases in the near future. This is important because consumer spending makes up such a large portion of our economy. If the CCI reading is weaker than expected, meaning that consumers were less confident than thought and likely will delay making a large personal purchase, we may see bond prices rise and mortgage rates dropTuesday morning. Current forecasts are calling for a reading of 96.0 which would be a weaker reading than June’s 98.0 and indicate consumers are a little less comfortable with their finances than they were last month.

The Commerce Department will post June’s Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM ET Wednesday. Current forecasts are calling for a decline in new orders of 1.0% from May to June. This data gives us an indication of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders at U.S. factories for big-ticket items, or products that are expected to last three or more years. A much stronger than expected number may lead to higher mortgage rates Wednesday morning because it would point towards economic strength. If it reveals a considerably larger decline in new orders, mortgage rates should move lower. It should be noted though that this data is known to be extremely volatile from month to month, so a minor difference between forecasts and the actual reading may not move the markets or mortgage rates.

Wednesday afternoon has the adjournment of the FOMC meeting that begins Tuesday. This is not a meeting that will be followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Yellen nor is it expected to yield a change to key interest rates. Many analysts believe the Fed will make their next increase to key short-term interest rates late this year, not this week. Anything in the post-meeting statement that either confirms or contradicts that theory will cause volatility in the markets. The meeting will adjourn at 2:00 PM ET, so any reaction will come during mid-afternoon hours.

There are also two Treasury auctions that are worth watching this week. 5-year Notes will be sold Tuesday and 7-year Notes on Thursday. Neither of these sales will directly impact mortgage pricing, but they can influence general bond market sentiment. If the sales go poorly, we could see broader selling in the bond market that leads to upward revisions to mortgage rates. On the other hand, strong sales usually make bonds more attractive to investors, bringing more funds into the bond market. The buying of bonds that follows translates into lower mortgage rates. Results of the sales will be posted at 1:00 PM ET each auction day, so look for any reaction to come during afternoon hours Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday starts with the key data of the week, the preliminary reading of the 2nd Quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 8:30 AM ET. This index is considered to be the benchmark indicator of economic growth or weakness. It is the total of all goods and services that are produced in the U.S. and usually has a great deal of influence on the financial markets. This reading is arguably the single most important report we get regularly. Current forecasts are estimating that the economy grew at a 2.6% annual rate during the second quarter, rebounding from the first quarter’s 1.1% annual rate. A stronger rate of growth should hurt bond prices, leading to higher mortgage rates Friday. But a much smaller than expected reading will likely fuel a bond market rally and push mortgage pricing lower since it would indicate the economy was not as strong as many had thought.

Also at 8:30 AM will be the 2nd Quarter Employment Cost Index (ECI) that tracks employer costs for wages and benefits. This release will give us a measurement of wage-inflation. If it shows a large increase, we may see wage inflation concerns rise as employers will need to pass those increases into the pricing of their products and services. That would be bad news for bonds and mortgage shoppers. A smaller than expected increase would be good news for the bond market and mortgage pricing. Current forecasts are showing a rise of 0.6%.

The week's calendar closes with July’s University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment just before 10:00 AM ET that will help us measure consumer optimism about their own financial situations. This data is considered relevant because rising consumer confidence usually translates into higher levels of spending that adds fuel to economic growth and is looked at as bad news for bonds. Friday’s release is an update to the preliminary reading we saw two weeks ago, so unless we see a drastic revision to the preliminary estimate of 89.5, I think the markets will probably shrug off this news.

Overall, I am expecting to see a very active week in the financial and mortgage markets. The calmest day for rates may be Monday. The most active will probably be Wednesday due to the Durable Goods report and FOMC meeting, but it is worth noting that Friday's GDP report can also cause plenty of volatility in the markets itself. There is little doubt that this is going to be an important week for mortgage rates, so it would be prudent to maintain contact with your mortgage professional if still floating an interest rate and closing in the near future.

Market Commentary for the Week of June 20th

      
This week brings us the release of five economic reports for the markets to digest in addition to two Treasury auctions that have the potential to come into play. The week's calendar begins Tuesday morning though when Fed Chair Janet Yellen will start her semi-annual update about the economy and monetary policy before Congress. She will speak before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday, each at 10:00am ET. Her testimony will be broadcast and watched very closely. Analysts and traders will be looking for the Fed’s opinion on the status of the economy and their expectations of future growth, inflation and unemployment concerns that will lead to the Fed’s next monetary policy move. These topics should create a great deal of volatility in the markets during the prepared testimony and the question and answer session that follows. If she indicates that inflation may become a point of concern or anything that hints at rapid economic growth, we can expect to see the bond market fall and mortgage rates rise Tuesday.

We usually see the most movement in the markets and mortgage rates during the first day of this testimony as the speaker’s prepared words for both appearances are quite similar to each other, meaning that the second day of testimony rarely gives us anything we did not hear during the first day. The general exception is something asked or answered during the Q&A portion of the second day’s appearance.

Also worth noting about Tuesday is the Fed will be selling debt this week that could affect mortgage rates. These sales may influence broader bond trading enough to affect mortgage rates if they show strong or weak investor demand. There are sales several days but the two most likely to have an impact on rates areTuesday’s 5-year Note sale and Wednesday’s 7-year Note auction. If they are met with a strong demand, we could see bond prices rise during afternoon trading. This could lead to afternoon improvements to mortgage rates also. On the other hand, if the sales draw a lackluster interest from investors, mortgage rates may move slightly higher during afternoon trading those days.

The first of this week’s economic reports comes late Wednesday morning when the National Association of Realtors posts May’s Existing Home Sales. This report tracks resales of existing homes, giving us a measurement of housing sector strength. It is considered to be moderately important to the markets, but can influence mortgage rates if it shows a sizable difference between forecasts and actual results. Analysts are currently expecting to see a small increase in sales, pointing towards a slightly strengthening housing sector. That would be bad news for the bond market and mortgage rates. A weaker housing sector makes overall economic growth more difficult, so a sizable decline would be ideal for the bond market and mortgage shoppers.

Thursday has two monthly reports scheduled to be posted at 10:00 AM ET. May’s New Home Sales report is the first. It helps us measure housing sector strength by tracking sales of newly constructed homes. This report is similar to Wednesday’s Existing Home Sales report, but covers a much smaller portion of sales than that report does. It is expected to show a relatively large drop in sales, but will likely not have much of an impact on mortgage rates because this data gives such a small snapshot of the housing sector. I believe it will take a large rise in sales or a sizable decline for this data to influence mortgage rates.

Also late Thursday morning will be the release of May’s Leading Economic Indicators (LEI). The Conference Board, who is a New York-based business research group, produces this data. The LEI attempts to predict economic activity over the next three to six months. Good news for mortgage rates would be a decline in this index, but it is expected to show a 0.2% increase from April’s reading. This means it is predicting a minor increase in economic growth over the next several months. Since this report is not considered to be of high importance, I don’t see it causing too much movement in rates regardless if it shows a particularly strong or weak reading.

Friday has the two remaining releases, one of which is the most important report of the week. This would be May’s Durable Goods Orders from the Commerce Department early morning, giving us an indication of manufacturing sector strength. It tracks orders at U.S. factories for big-ticket items, or products that are expected to last three or more years such as electronics, appliances and airplanes. This data is known to be quite volatile from month to month and is expected to show a decline of 0.6% in new orders from April to May. A large decline would be the ideal scenario for the bond market and would hopefully lead to an improvement in mortgage pricing as it would indicate manufacturing sector weakness.

The University of Michigan will close out this week’s data when they update their Index of Consumer Sentiment for May late Friday morning. This index measures consumer willingness to spend. If consumers are more comfortable with their own financial and employment situations, they are more apt to make large purchases in the near future, fueling economic growth. Accordingly, any consumer spending related data has the potential to affect bond trading and mortgage rates. A downward revision would be considered good news for bonds and rates. Forecasts are calling for little change from this month’s preliminary reading of 94.3.

Overall, I see Tuesday as the most important day of the week solely because of the semi-annual Fed testimony. Friday may also be pretty active also with the most important economic data of the week. Monday could end up being the calmest day for rates, assuming nothing unexpected happens. We are likely to see a fair amount of movement in the financial and mortgage markets this week. Therefore, it would be prudent to maintain contact with your mortgage professional if still floating an interest rate and closing in the near future.

Market Commentary for the Week of May 9th

     
This week brings us the release of only three economic reports that have the potential to influence mortgage rates. All of the week’s relevant events will take place the middle and latter days, with nothing of importance set for Monday or Tuesday. Two of the reports are considered to be of elevated importance to the bond market and therefore mortgage rates. This raises the possibility of seeing noticeable movement in rates multiple days this week.

Before we get to the week's economic reports, we have to deal with a couple of Treasury auctions. The Treasury will hold a 10-year Note sale Wednesday and a 30-year Bond sale Thursday. Results of the auctions will be posted at 1:00 PM ET each day. If they are met with a strong demand from investors, we could see bond prices rise enough during afternoon trading to cause downward revisions to mortgage rates. However, lackluster bidding in the sales, meaning longer-term securities are losing their appeal, could lead to higher mortgage pricing those afternoons.

The first piece of economic data this week is April’s Retail Sales at 8:30 AM ET Friday morning. This is an extremely important report for the financial markets since it measures consumer spending. Consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so this data can have a pretty significant impact on the markets. Current forecasts are calling for a 0.8% increase in sales from March to April. A weaker than expected level of sales should push bond prices higher and mortgage rates lower Friday morning as it would signal that economic activity may not be as strong as thought. However, an unexpected increase could fuel concerns of economic growth that would lead to stock buying and bond selling, pushing mortgage rates higher.

April’s Producer Price Index (PPI) will also be released at 8:30 AM ET Friday. It helps us track inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy. If this report reveals weaker than expected readings, indicating inflation is not a concern at the manufacturing level, we should see the bond market improve. The overall index is expected to rise 0.3%, while the core data that excludes more volatile food and energy prices has been forecasted to rise 0.1%. A decline in the core data will be ideal for mortgage shoppers because inflation is the number one nemesis for long-term securities such as mortgage-related bonds. As inflation rises, longer-term securities become less appealing to investors since inflation erodes the value of those securities’ future fixed interest payments. That is one of the reasons why the bond market tends to thrive in weaker economic conditions with low levels of inflation.

May’s preliminary reading to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment will close out the week’s calendar just before 10:00 AM ET Friday. This index measures consumer willingness to spend, which relates to consumer spending. If consumers are more confident in their own financial situations, they are more apt to make large purchases in the near future. This report usually has a moderate impact on the financial markets though, because it is not exactly factual data. It is expected to show a reading of 89.7, which would be an increase from April’s final reading of 89.0, indicating consumers are more confident than last month. If it shows a large decline in consumer confidence, bond prices could rise and mortgage rates would move slightly lower because waning confidence means consumers are less apt to make a large purchase in the near future. I suspect that the earlier reports will draw the most attention Friday and have the bigger impact on mortgage rates.

Overall, the calmest day for mortgage rates will likely be Tuesday while the best candidate for most active day is Friday. We also need to watch stocks for mortgage rate movement. Generally speaking, stock weakness usually makes bonds more attractive while stock gains tend to draw funds from bonds, leading to higher mortgage rates.

Market Commentary for the Week of May 2nd

      
This week brings us the release of five pieces of economic data that are likely to influence mortgage rates. While that's not an overly large number of reports, it is worth noting that two of them are extremely important and they all come over only three days. That leads me to believe it is going to be a very active week for the financial and mortgage markets.

The week’s calendar begins Monday with the release of April's Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index at 10:00 AM ET. This is usually the first important economic report released each month and gives us an indication of manufacturer sentiment. A reading above 50 means that more surveyed trade executives felt business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened. This points toward more manufacturing activity and could hurt bond prices, pushing mortgage rates higher. Analysts are expecting to see a reading of 51.4, down slightly from March’s 51.8. Ideally, bond traders would like to see a reading below 50.0 as it would hint at contraction in the manufacturing sector rather than growth, but a decline from March’s level would still be good news for mortgage shoppers.

Tuesday has nothing in terms of economic reports that we need to be concerned with, but Wednesday has three. The ADP Employment report is set for release early Wednesday morning, which has the potential to cause some movement in the markets if it shows much stronger or weaker numbers. This report tracks changes in private-sector jobs of ADP’s clients that use them for payroll processing. While it does draw attention, it is my opinion that it is overrated and is not a true reflection of the broader employment picture. It also is not accurate in predicting results of the monthly government report that usually follows a couple days later. Still, because we do often see a reaction to the report, we should be watching it. Analysts are expecting it to show that 196,000 new payrolls were added. The lower the number of jobs, the better the news it is for mortgage rates.

The second report of the day will come from the Labor Department, who will release its 1st Quarter Productivity and Costs data during early morning hours. This information helps us measure employee productivity in the workplace. High levels of productivity help allow low-inflationary economic growth. If employee productivity is rapidly rising, the bond market should react favorably. However, a sizable decline could cause bond prices to drop and mortgage rates to rise slightly Wednesday morning. It is expected to show a 1.4% drop in worker productivity during the first three months of the year.

Wednesday's final report will be February’s Factory Orders at 10:00 AM ET. This data is similar to the Durable Goods Orders report that was posted last week, except it includes orders for both durable and non-durable goods. It will give us another measurement of manufacturing sector strength. It is considered to be only moderately important to the bond and mortgage markets, so unless it varies greatly from forecasts of a 0.5% increase, I suspect that the data will have a minimal impact on Wednesday’s mortgage rates.

The biggest news of the week will come early Friday morning when the Labor Department posts March’s Employment report, revealing the U.S. unemployment rate and the number of jobs added or lost during the month. This is an extremely important report to the financial and mortgage markets. It is expected to show that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0% and that approximately 207,000 payrolls were added to the economy during the month. A higher unemployment rate and a much smaller than expected payroll number would be good news for bonds and would likely push mortgage rates lower Friday morning because it would indicate weaker than thought conditions in the employment sector of the economy. However, stronger than expected results would probably fuel a stock rally and bond selling that leads to a sizable increase in mortgage pricing.

Overall, Friday is the single most important day of the week due to the significance of the monthly Employment report, but Monday’s ISM report is considered highly important also. Tuesday is the best candidate for lightest day because traders will probably be making adjustments Thursday before Friday's key economic release. Due to the significance of some of this week's data, I highly recommend maintaining contact with your mortgage professional this week if still floating an interest rate.

What You Need to Know About PMI

  
If you are looking into buying a home, you may have come across the acronym PMI, which stands for private mortgage insurance. While PMI results in additional monthly or annual payments, it may be financially beneficial to consider a mortgage with a PMI plan. Consult with your real estate agent or mortgage loan officer to determine whether PMI is appropriate for your financial situation.

What PMI Is

If your down payment is less than 20% of your home's value, the lender may want you to purchase PMI to cover its losses in case you default on the payments. Typically, you will pay a PMI monthly along with each month’s mortgage payment. Your PMI can be canceled at your request, in writing, when you reach 20% equity in your home based on your original purchase price if your mortgage payments are current and you have a good payment history. By federal law your PMI payments will automatically stop when you acquire 22% equity in your home based on the original appraised value of the house as long as your mortgage payments are current.

What PMI Isn’t

PMI is different than FHA. Recent FHA-insured loans require payment of mortgage insurance premiums for the life of the loan. The mortgage insurance premiums can’t be canceled. Instead, you have to refinance the loan.
PMI is also different from homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s insurance protects the owner of the home, who also pays the insurance premiums. Private mortgage insurance, on the other hand, is paid by the homeowner monthly but protects the mortgage lender.



According to Bankrate.com, PMI usually costs between .5 and 1 percent of the total loan amount. This figure is the annual premium, which is divided into monthly payments. According to Allie Mae, average monthly costs tend to run between $50 and $80 per month. However, prices also vary based on down payment amounts and the type of mortgage. So talk with your loan professional if it’s required for you, and how much it will add to your monthly costs.

So, if your home increases dramatically in value, then it’s time to look into canceling your PMI. In general, on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, it takes approximately 15 years to build up to 22% equity. This may seem a little astonishing, but it’s in the nature of an amortized loan. You pay mostly interest in the beginning and slowly chip away at the principal. This is why it’s great to pay even a few extra dollars a month towards the principal of the loan. So your next step would be to pay for an appraisal. If your equity is 20% or greater, request that your PMI be canceled in writing. (And put the money that went towards PMI directly to your loan. You will pay it down even faster, and you’ve already learned you can live without that extra money each month.)

If you’re applying for a VA loan, you should never be required to pay PMI. If it looks like it’s added in, double check with your loan officer that the loan is a VA specific loan or perhaps the fees are for something else.