Although sometimes advertised as mortgages products, 80/20 mortgages and 80/10/10 mortgages are not really mortgage loans. They are a combination of a primary mortgage loan with a second loan typically to make up the difference between the borrower's down payment and a loan covering 80% of the purchase price of a home. Because there is a second loan on top of a first loan, these are also referred to as piggyback loans or piggyback mortgages
Piggyback loans are a strategy most commonly used to for several specific situations:
In these type of piggyback loans (80/20, 80/10/10, 80/15/5), the first number typically refers to how much of the purchase price of a home is being covered by the primary or first mortgage, the second number is typically how much of the purchase price is covered by the second mortgage, and the third number is the percentage down payment (The numbers may sometimes be turned around. There are numerous other combinations that can be created using first and second mortgages.).