How to Qualify for a Physician Mortgage Loan

Physician mortgage loans are a special type of mortgage loan designed specifically for medical professionals like doctors, dentists, and nurse practitioners. 

They offer a number of unique benefits. Among these benefits, you’ll generally find that physician mortgage loans are available with zero down payment.

You’ll also find that you can qualify for these types of loans even if your debt-to-income ratio is really skewed in a bad way due to your student loans. 

With that being said, there are a few downsides to them as well. 

For example, they generally come with a slightly higher interest rate. 

As a medical professional, you’re likely expecting to have an above-average income, which means that before the interest rates really start to be a factor, you could either refinance or even pay the loan off completely. 

So in this blog post, you’re going to learn how to qualify for a physician mortgage loan as a medical professional who’s fresh out of medical school and wants to get into homeownership, despite the skewed debt-to-income ratio that often comes from the student loans required to take and pass medical school. 

Let’s dive into it. 

1. Be The Right Type Of Medical Provider

There are actually certain types of medical providers who qualify for physician mortgage loans. 

Here are just a few of the different types of medical professionals who can qualify for them:

• Medical Doctors (MD)
• Doctors of Osteopathy (DO)
• Doctors of Dental Medicine (DMD)
• Doctors of Dental Surgery (DDS)
• Optometrist (OD)
• Podiatrist (DPM)
• Veterinarian (DPM)
• Chiropractor (DCH)
• And more

If you’re a medical professional and are thinking that you may want to explore getting a physician mortgage loan, then checking the list to see if your position qualifies is definitely a great place to start. 

If you qualify as per your position, then you can move on to see if you check the ‘other boxes’ in the qualification process. 

2. Have A Good Credit Score 

For a typical home mortgage, lenders generally require a credit score of about 700—though some may accept scores as low as 660.

You’ll still need a good credit score to qualify for a physician mortgage loan—though the exact credit score requirements will differ according to lender. 

With that being said, it’s always a good idea to take a close look at the numbers before you authorize a credit check. 

The reason for this is that once a lender runs a credit check on you, it will ding your credit—which could bring it down by a few points. 

You definitely don’t want to do this more than once. So getting a close look at the numbers before you authorize the credit check is always a better idea. 

3. Have Proof Of A Medical Contract

One of the unique features of a physician mortgage loan is that it allows medical professionals to get into homeownership with little to no down payment, even when they may not technically meet the qualifications required with a normal mortgage loan. 

However, you do need to be a working medical professional in order to qualify. 

This means that you’ll need to provide proof of a contract. 

You may also need to supply pay stubs and income information in order to verify that you’re actually working as a medical professional. 

As long as you meet the requirements, you should have a pretty easy time getting access to a physician mortgage loan, as long as you do have a valid medical contract. 

This is an important qualifier.

Do You Need A Down Payment For A Physician Mortgage Loan? 

Having a down payment is generally an important factor when it comes to qualifying for a home loan. 

The majority of lenders on the market will require a down payment of anywhere from 3.5% to 20% before they’ll authorize a loan. 

With that being said, a physician mortgage loan tends to be a little different in the sense that you don’t always need to have a down payment in order to get the loan. 

This is balanced out by the slightly higher interest rate. 

Generally speaking, if you can supply a 10% or 20% down payment, then most financial experts advise you to try to use a standard home loan first and only opt for the physician mortgage loan if you don’t qualify. 

However, physician mortgage loans are an excellent option for medical professionals who want to be homebuyers, but can’t quite meet the specific requirements of a traditional home loan.

Conclusion

There you have it!

Now you know exactly how to qualify for a physician mortgage loan. 

Now get out there and get the mortgage you deserve!