Go to the credit union/bank where each does the checking/saving. They have an interest in making you happy. Also check on FHA mortgages

PMI does not exist if you have 20% to deposit on the price of the home you choose. So make sure you have 20% of the $100,000 home - that’s $20,000 with a $80,000 mortgage.

So it is up to you to lower the price of your home to one you may afford with 20% down on the purchase price.

GOD bless us always.
MBA-Boston Univ.
CPA-retired

not sure what your purchase price is, but if you can not put down the 20% youll get stuck with pmi.
its not great, we know, but you can do what someone else suggested, like getting an equity like of credit, but this could be more costly or less costly based on how long you plan on staying in this property.
if you dont have the 20% but can manage to come up with 10%, you may be able to to a loan called 80-10-10.
what that would do is, put down 10% of the loan, and borrow another 10% of the loan total (at a higher intrest rate) and take those numbers=the 20%.
the pmi is cheeper if you will only be in the place for a few years, but if you plan on being in the house 10-15-30years, this is a better option. but remember, the 10% loan is at a higer intrest rate, but the remainder, the 80% would be lower.
something to think about.
you get an even lower rate on the 80% ltv if you take a 15 year mortgage too.

I just am in awe over the answers you have received in this question. I am qualified to answer this simply because I AM A LENDER and secondly if it makes a difference I am also a Realtor/Broker.

Here are the TRUE FACTS…. I dont care if you have 20% to put down or not the simple truth is that PMI is avoidable. Secondly PMI is NOT a rip off it is a protection to your lender. Look at it from this stand point if you were lending YOUR money dont you want to see the lendee with some sort of INVESTMENT too rather than you as the lender giving 100%? Of course you do. PMI is an insurance that the Lender will recover ALL of their money they have loaned to the consumer. Yes sure the home is considered collateral but what about during times like now when the markets drop and the appraised value of the property DROPS and in come cases you owe more on the house than its worth - WELL PMI helps here too. Purchasing a home is NOT ALWAYS a sound investment with appreciation. When your neighbor sells for cheap or goes into foreclosure - this can HURT your value. This is currently taking place all over the US but in pockets.

Feel free to see my websites listed below for more information and if you need more info contact me directly with the numbers in my websites. If you are on the East Coast I can surely help, but review my sites first. PMI is also a Tax Deduction as of Jan 2007 - not always a bad thing but again you CAN get out of PMI with OUT having to pay 20% down. Credit does play a role in this to an extent and as a Mortgage Advisor I personally take the time to work with my clients to find the program that best fits their needs and gives them the lowest payment they search for. Let me know if I can help you.

You can only avoid PMI if you have a down pmt of 20% or more, For pmi purposes, the bank does not care what your credit score or income is….just if you have 20 % to put down. The only other option is a 80/10/10 or a 80/15/5 loan in which you put 5 or 10 percent down and 80% mortgage on a first loan at the best rate you qualify for, and a second loan (for the 10-15% need to make 20%) at a higher rate(usually about 1.5-2 points higher). Good luck

Typically you have to put 20% down to avoid PMI. No other way to do that (maybe if you bought directly from the owner via owner financing you could avoid it, but thats very very rare to get).

Your credit score matters to get the loan and what interest rate you will get, but the PMI is just based on the 20% equity rule.

As to where, I’d try some local banks in your area, they are often better for local stuff. Be sure to open an account there if they give you a loan- just good business.

Anytime you are unable to put 20% down on a purchase, you’ll have to pay PMI. PMI is a ripoff, but the only alternative is to have one loan for 80% of the purchase amount, and a 2nd loan to cover whatever is left. The 2nd loan will be at a much higher rate, and it would probably cost you less to just pay the PMI. The reason for the PMI is that the lender considers you a higher risk because you can’t afford to invest 20% of your own money into the property and you’re more likely to default on your loan.

If you put down enough money you can get a mortgage without PMI just about anywhere. One thing some people do is to take out a home equity line at the same time and use the home equity credit to increase the total downpayment to a sufficient amount so you won’t need PMI. It means you will have two mortagages, the main one and the smaller home equity one, but you will be free of PMI related debt once the home equity line is paid off.

You need to put some money down and you shouldn’t have to pay/have PMI.

Lending tree can get you 3 loan offers, but remember they check your credit report 3 times.

I believe the only way to avoid PMI is to put 20% down on the loan.