A piggyback loan is a financing strategy in which a homebuyer takes out two mortgages simultaneously, typically to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI) when making a down payment of less than 20%. The most common setup is the "80-10-10" structure, where the primary mortgage covers 80% of the purchase price, a second loan covers 10%, and the buyer provides a 10% cash down payment. By keeping the primary mortgage at 80% of the home's value, the buyer avoids PMI while still securing the property with less cash upfront. Because the second loan usually carries a higher interest rate, buyers should carefully calculate whether the combined cost of both loans is truly lower than a single mortgage paired with PMI. Piggyback loans were common before the 2008 financial crisis and have made a modest comeback in competitive housing markets.