While getting a mortgage to buy a home is fairly common, reasons to get a second mortgage may be less obvious. Home buyers and existing homeowners often use a second mortgage to finance a home purchase, home improvements, pay-down credit card debt or to purchase things they need.

Foreclosure filings spiked in the height of the housing crisis, and for many years, foreclosed homes were readily available. However, today in many parts of the country, foreclosures are less common, but there may still be some available for patient home buyers.