<prompt> Human: I live in Michigan and bought my first house 3 years ago. I have a 30 year fixed rate FHA mortgage that I was required to get in order to qualify for a 7,500 first time home buyers grant that I plan on refinancing into a 15 year traditional mortgage after the mandatory waiting period of 5 years. If I refinance or sell the home within the first 5 years of living there, Im required to pay back the 7,500. My mortgage is through Wells Fargo and since weve moved in 3 years ago, my payment has gone up every 6 months. Im now at just over a 300 increase from my first payment when we moved in to now. Is this normal? I dont really understand this stuff too well but it was my understanding that a mortgage payment really shouldnt change if its a fixed rate. I know taxes could have something to do with it but 300 is getting crazy. Can someone please explain this to me andor help me to keep this from increasing?  <response>: Your mortgage should be fixed, but your escrow is not. Property taxes and insurance can and often do go up over time, so the escrow portion of your payment will go up over time. 