A soft (or silent) second is down payment assistance structured as a lien on the home: no monthly payment, repaid when you sell or refinance. These usually come from a state housing agency like the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). Depending on the program, the second may or may not accrue interest while it sits there, and some are forgivable over time. CalHFA's main seconds generally are not, though a newer one for buyers at or below 80% of area median income is forgivable, with income limits many buyers can't fit under. Confirm the current terms of any program before you count on them. Whether it's worth taking comes down to two questions: - Does it force worse terms on your first mortgage? Some paired programs raise the rate or cost on the first loan enough to wipe out the benefit of the assistance. - Can it be subordinated later? Many silent seconds can't. If rates improve and you want to refinance, the second-lien holder has to agree to stay in second position, and lenders have increasingly refused. That can turn "free" down payment help into a lock on your ability to refinance. Our lean: if you can pull together your own down payment, a lender credit toward closing costs is often the better route than assistance that carries a lien, because the "free money" has a real price once the refinance restriction is counted. Either way, the call is yours to make with the numbers in front of you. A real side-by-side of the cost and benefit is exactly what the free Roadmap conversation (about 20 minutes) is for.