Yes. Tapping your current home's equity for the down payment on a second home or rental is common and legitimate, whether through a HELOC or a fixed home equity loan. One hard limit up front: the equity can only be the down-payment source, never the first mortgage on the new property. Two things to get straight before you do it. First, this is borrowed money with its own payment. Whatever you pull out becomes a new monthly obligation stacked on top of the new property's payment, so you end up carrying two payments instead of one. If you would be borrowing the down payment and also counting on that same money to make the deal affordable, you are effectively at 100% financing, and that does not solve a cash-flow problem. The move works when you have the income to carry both. Second, know your tappable equity. Most first-mortgage programs cap borrowing near 80% of value (VA is the exception), so subtract what you still owe to see what is available; on a second lien you can often go higher, at a higher rate. Confirm current limits, since they change. Many people choose a fixed second over a HELOC to avoid rate variability, and to avoid disturbing a low first-mortgage rate they would lose in a cash-out refinance. Whether a second or a cash-out refi is smarter depends on your first-mortgage rate versus where rates sit when you act, and nobody can promise where rates go. We can map your equity and both structures in the free Roadmap conversation, about 20 minutes where we run your real numbers.