Can I lower my payments while getting money for Home Improvments?

[Erik Littlefield]

I am renting My house out and it needs 15k for renovations. My monthly payment is $1680 (including PITI). I plan to rent it out for $1900 and I am including a property manager as well. Is there a way I can lower my monthly payments and pull some equity out of my property (about $40k worth of equity) at the same time? I know I can try to get a lower insurance. And does anybody know about getting your property re-assessed for tax purposes? I am curious about different strategies I can use.