Piggyback Loans (80-10-10) & Second Liens
A piggyback loan pairs a first mortgage with a simultaneous second lien so you can put less cash down without paying mortgage insurance — or to keep the first loan under the conforming limit. The classic version is called 80-10-10.
How 80-10-10 works
You finance 80% of the price with a first mortgage, 10% with a second lien, and put 10% down. Because the first mortgage is at 80% of value, it avoids private mortgage insurance — and because it stays at 80%, it can also stay under the conforming limit on a higher-priced home that would otherwise be jumbo.
When it makes sense
- Avoiding mortgage insurance with less than 20% down.
- Staying conforming on a home that would push a single loan into jumbo territory.
- Managing cash when you prefer to keep more in reserve than a 20% down payment would allow.
A piggyback is a math comparison: weigh the cost of the second lien against the mortgage insurance or jumbo pricing it avoids. For the right file it is clearly cheaper; for another it is not. We will run both so you can see which wins.