PMI vs PiggyBacking

Another financing option lures home buyers: PMI - OregonLive.com:

"Home buyers who can't come up with a 20-percent down payment -- and at today's real estate prices it can be a stretch -- must buy private mortgage insurance, or PMI, to guarantee that the lender will be reimbursed if the buyer defaults on the loan.

But in recent years, buyers have been circumventing the requirement by paying less than 20 percent down, borrowing 80 percent with a conventional 30-year first mortgage and borrowing the rest of the down payment...."

In class we do very little personal finance. This year as the semester wound down we tried to spend some "free" time on the topics. It was well received. PMI was one of the things we did cover.