To previous posts: thanks for the tips on avoiding a private lender if I refinance my student loans. As per getting rid of te PMI by refinancing, I will explore that option in a couple of years once the property appreciates a bit.
Thanks!

With regards to the PMI, the banks make it harder to cancel than it appears when you get the loan. For us, our house appreciated faster than we were able to pay down the principle, so we could have paid for an appraisal to establish the value. It was a lot of hoops to jump through though, and in the end we ended up refinancing to a lower rate and got rid of it that way.