Anna Buckley

You’ll often hear the term “second mortgage” come up when watching a movie or TV show when a character isn’t in a great financial standing. “They had to take out a second mortgage on their house,” a gossipy character will whisper, describing how their frenemy has fallen on bad times. But second mortgages get a bad rap—though risky, they’re often a great tool to solve financial problems or even wisely get ahead.

Much like dating, searching for a place to live can be the opposite of fun. In love, you’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs. In realty, you’ve got to scroll through a lot of listings. Both, in their own way, pose the risk of catfishing. But at least if you get duped by an embellished Tinder profile, the worst that usually happens is a bad date (which you can get through with the help of a drink or two!

If you’re serious about saving up for a down payment on your dream home, a quick virtual trip to the app store might make the journey easier.