If you are a physician, dentist, pharmacist, or other licensed medical professional, you already know your income does not always tell the full story a lender sees. A strong salary on paper does not always translate into an easy approval, especially early in your career. A doctor loan program exists specifically to close that gap.

What Makes It Work

This loan program is built around the realities of a medical career:

• Up to 100 percent financing on your primary residence

• No mortgage insurance required

• Loan amounts up to $2 million

• Minimum FICO of 680, with the strongest terms available at 720

• One unit primary residences only

Eligible professionals include MD, DO, DDS, DMD, PharmD, CRNA, VMD, and DPM, along with medical residents, fellows, and interns holding one of those degrees. Chiropractors do not qualify under this program, even though the profession is often grouped with medical care.

Before you get too far into planning, there are a few details worth knowing upfront:

• Debt to income ratios can go as high as 50%

• This program is for single unit primary residences only

• Every loan is manually underwritten, meaning full income and asset documentation is reviewed with no automated shortcut through the process

• Reserves are required after closing, and the amount depends on your loan size and down payment

Years of School, Years of Debt: How Student Loans Factor In

Getting to where you are took years of school, and for many medical professionals that means significant student loan debt along the way. If you have a monthly payment showing on your credit report above $0, that payment is what gets used to qualify you. If your credit report shows $0 because you are on an income driven repayment plan, your documented IDR payment can still be used, even if it is $0, as long as you provide proof of active enrollment and the payment amount in effect at closing. A 1% calculation applies to any loans that are deferred or in forbearance. The one exception is for borrowers currently in a residency or medical clinical fellowship who are qualifying based on their training income, in which case those loans can be excluded from the debt to income ratio entirely.

When an ARM Makes Sense

Adjustable rate mortgages are also available on this program and can be a smart fit if you know your current location is temporary. For example, if you are completing a residency in one city before relocating for a permanent position in another, an ARM might be an option worth looking into. ARM products on this program carry a minimum loan amount of $350,000, and the maximum debt to income ratio is capped at 45%. Everything else is similar to the fixed rate side of the program discussed above.

Where This Leaves You

Qualifying as a medical professional does not have to look like qualifying for a typical loan. Between the income allowances, the student loan flexibility, and the financing options built for where you are in your career, this program is designed to meet you where you actually are, not where standard mortgage guidelines want you to fit. If this sounds like a loan program that would benefit you or someone you know, please share the information and reach out with any questions.