Four ways. Cancel private mortgage insurance once the loan is at 80 percent of the original value. Recast a conventional loan after a lump-sum principal payment so the payment is recalculated over the remaining term. Shop homeowners insurance and appeal the property assessment so the escrow deposit drops at the next analysis. Ask the servicer to spread an escrow shortage over 12 months. None of these change your rate or payoff date.

Send the servicer a written cancellation request once the balance reaches 80 percent of the original value, with a clean payment history and no second lien. It must end automatically at 78 percent. If home values in your neighborhood have climbed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules also allow cancellation on current value with a new appraisal, generally at 80 percent loan-to-value after five years or 75 percent between two and five years. FHA mortgage insurance is different: on most loans since 2013 it lasts the life of the loan, so removing it takes a conventional refinance.

Yes. After a lump-sum principal payment, the servicer re-amortizes the remaining balance over the remaining term at the same rate, which lowers the payment permanently. Most servicers require $5,000 to $10,000 minimum and charge a few hundred dollars. Conventional and jumbo loans usually qualify; FHA, VA, and USDA loans generally do not, which is one reason a conventional refinance can be the better long-term structure for a borrower expecting future lump sums.

The annual escrow analysis found that taxes or insurance rose and the account came up short, so the servicer added the shortage and the new higher deposit to your payment. Ask for the shortage to be spread over 12 months, get two or three insurance quotes before renewal, and appeal the assessment in your county's window (the second Monday in July in most Missouri counties; 30 days from the spring notice in Kansas). The payment recalculates at the next analysis, or sooner if you ask for a re-analysis after the insurance change.

Only if you choose a 30-year term. Part of the payment drop on a 30-year reset comes from stretching the remaining balance over more years, which adds interest. Ask for a term that matches your remaining years, or a 20 or 15, and compare the total interest on both loans. We show the payment, the break-even, and the total interest side by side so you see all three.

PMI cancellation, an escrow reset, or a recast, in that order, because none of them depend on the rate. A refinance only helps when the new rate is far enough below the current one for the savings to pay back the closing costs before you sell. When rates are flat, the answer is usually on the insurance, tax, or mortgage insurance lines.

Not as a normal refinance. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not offer 40-year loans, and FHA's 40-year option exists only as a loss-mitigation modification for borrowers already in default. A few non-QM lenders write 40-year terms at higher rates. For a borrower in good standing, a 30-year term with a lender credit usually produces a lower payment with less total interest than a 40-year non-QM loan.

Send us the loan estimate first. Servicer retention offers are often priced above the wholesale market because the servicer is competing only with the effort of switching. Our loan estimate audit compares it against our lender panel line by line with no credit pull. If the servicer's offer is the better deal, we will tell you to take it.