Originally Posted by avalanche

PMI is only for loans over 80% the value of a home. Most people do combo loans or specialty loans with lender paid MI. In the last year out of 4.5 Billion in residential mortgages we did only about 2-3% had PMI and that was usually because the LTV was about 80-85% and they would be paying it down and dropping the PMI.

But yes, PMI is a waste of money, no tax deduction, etc.