Hi Steve,
I'm Kelly - the tax guru.
That's a great point about the difference between a re-fi and a purchase for tax reasons. There are a number of nuances, as you pointed out. One that is often forgotten is that points that can be attributed to improvements in a re-fi are deductible in the year they are paid.
It's also important to realize that points paid by the seller are generally not deductible as interest but would count as an expense for purposes of figuring capital gains - extremely important if you're planning on staying only a few years!