Mortgage Insurance (MI) lowers a lender’s risk when making a home loan. In most cases, if you pay at least 20% down on your home, you’re not required to carry MI. And when you are required to carry it, you may be eligible to request cancelling it when you’ve reached 20% equity in the home.
Depending on the type of loan you have, you’ll pay for mortgage insurance in different ways. It can either be private mortgage insurance (known as PMI) or FHA mortgage insurance premiums (known as MIP).