First time home buyer, interested in re-appraisal to lose PMI

[Jack Sickels]

Hi there and thanks much beforehand!

I'm currently in year 2 of my first mortgage and according to Zillow (which I have a gut feeling may inflate values), I'm already at %.79 LTV.

I'd like to drop my $175/mo PMI so I've contacted my mortgage lender and a local appraiser.

I've already made improvements to the property such as removing a bunch of cracked concrete from the front yard, replacing with grass, plants and a nice paver stone walkway. I've also replaced the front door with a new stained and finished mahogany door that looks pretty impressive. I've added various things throughout the house and garage, though a new German shepherd has torn up the back yard. Regardless, the value seems to have gone up due to the market and I believe this place is also better than it was.

The appraiser said they don't rely on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor etc. but comparables in the area. I think this property can still hold it's new higher value in light of comps - for instance a nearby house of similar design/structure/square footage recently sold for 80k more than what I bought mine at in Jan/Feb 2021.

That being said, if my property is theoretically now worth say 339,000, and the nearby house sold for 369,000 a few months ago, say their interior is updated and they have .5 more bathrooms, I'd say that I could do the same to mine for 30k and therefore justify the value of 339,000?

However, the appraiser says they want $700 for the report so that made me think twice - I could just lose out $700.

I'm also eager to do this now due to market rumors. Should I appraise now? Is my understanding sound?

Thank you very much!!

Zip code is 97141.