Answer:
Reducing the length of the loan and increasing the down payment
Step-by-step explanation:
Assuming Francis has the ability to choose the length of his loan and the amount of the down payment.
The method that would help Francis to decrease the total cost of the loan is - reducing the length of the loan and increasing the down payment.
When a person pays more amount in down payment, then he will have to loan out a smaller amount. And he will have to pay less interest. If the loan is short, the interest to be paid will be less. If the loan term is long, the interest also increases. One has to pay interest for the whole tenure of the loan.
So, if someone wants to reduce the loan amount, he must pay more in down payment.