Action Appraisal · Central Texas
Appraisals for PMI Removal Reviews in Central Texas
If your servicer will accept a homeowner-arranged appraisal, get a researched opinion of your home's current value for its review.
If you've paid down your mortgage or improved your home, you may wonder whether you can stop paying private mortgage insurance (PMI). Some reviews consider your home's current value, but others do not call for a new appraisal.
Action Appraisal serves residential properties across Travis, Williamson and Burnet counties. When the servicer permits a homeowner-arranged report, Tom can review its requirements with you before you pay for work it may not use.
Check With Your Servicer Before Paying for an Appraisal
Your mortgage servicer decides which PMI cancellation rules apply, whether current value is relevant, what valuation it needs and who may order it. Some servicers permit a homeowner-arranged appraisal; others require their own ordering process or another kind of valuation. A privately ordered report may not be usable for your loan.
Ask whether an appraisal is needed, who may order it and whether the servicer must select or approve the appraiser. Check where the report must go before commissioning the work. You can still ask Tom a question before you have all the details.
When a Current Appraisal May Help
Your question might follow mortgage paydown, changes in property value or completed improvements. If the servicer accepts a current appraisal, Tom develops an independent opinion of the home's market value based on the property and relevant sales. The servicer, not the appraiser, decides whether that value satisfies its PMI requirements.
Market changes and home improvements are different reasons a property's value may change. Neither tells you the current value on its own.
A remodeled home may compare differently from one nearby that still needs updating, and competing new homes may matter in some areas. Tom looks at the actual property and relevant sales because an improvement's cost is not necessarily its contribution to market value, and a broad online estimate may miss the home's present condition. His role is to determine what the evidence supports, not to reach a number needed for PMI removal.
If Your Servicer Allows a Homeowner-Arranged Appraisal
If your servicer confirms that you may obtain the appraisal yourself, share its instructions with Tom. He can determine whether Action Appraisal can provide the residential valuation it is asking for before you commit to the fee.
Common Questions
Can I order the appraisal myself?
Sometimes. Your servicer decides whether a homeowner-arranged appraisal is acceptable or whether it must order the valuation itself. Check before paying for an appraisal.
Does an appraisal guarantee my PMI will be removed?
No. The servicer decides whether the appraisal is acceptable and whether the loan satisfies its other PMI cancellation requirements.
Is FHA mortgage insurance the same as conventional PMI?
No. FHA mortgage insurance follows different rules, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains. If you are unsure which insurance you have, ask your servicer.
Tom Wagner
Texas Certified Residential Appraiser, credential 1323538-CR
Tom has more than 50 years in appraisal work and more than 20,000 completed appraisals. He personally handles the appraisal work he accepts. His appraisals follow the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), with an independent opinion grounded in the property and relevant market evidence.
Where We Work
See residential appraisal service information for Travis County, Williamson County and Burnet County.
Not Sure Whether Your Servicer Will Accept an Appraisal?
If you have written instructions, share them with Tom along with the property address. A brief account of significant improvements can help, but missing details need not prevent a first conversation. He can help you sort out whether Action Appraisal can take on the requested work before you commit to a fee.