['Chair]

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There are lots of banks now that'll give you a slightly higher interest rate in exchange for no PMI. REcently banks started realizing that for decent credit individuals its better for them to self insure their own mortgages and charging 1/4 point or so more in interest.

Another way to avoid PMI is to have the seller carry a second mortgage for the other 10% of the purchase price. That is better for you anyway since the extra payment is going toward building equity rather than into the pocket on an insurance company.
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we became home-debt-owners and used the "lender paid PMI" that you are referring to because it came out better than regular PMI or a 10% piggy back due to our investment horizon. I cannot recall where the crossover was but it was definitely not within our horizon (7ish years).

edit: went with a 30yr fixed...fwiw

edit2: of course the crossovers on these PMI and 2nd mortgage options are going to change significantly if you plan on making extra payments...which doesn't look to be optimal based on the economic direction.

Also, now seems to be a great time for purchasing/negotiating w/ all the panic. Another plus...a mortgage is a fairly decent hedge against inflation if we head that route. But then again, I've heard of some pretty good arguments either way w/ regards to the inflation/deflation debate.