Avoiding Private Mortgage Insurance

The speaker from quicken loans discusses common techniques to avoid paying PMI, or private mortgage insurance.   He suggests that PMI can be eliminated once the balance of the loan drops below 78%.  Another possibility is to pay the mortgage down to 75% or even refinance your loan if your homes appraised value moves higher.  This will lower your loan to value ratio and possibly eliminate PMI.  Finally, the most common technique is to take out 2 loans to cover the purchase price of the home.  As long as the first mortgage is not more than 80%, you will not pay PMI.