Physician mortgage loans

honestly, google would be a good idea, as long as you are able to investigate, to some extent, the scruples of the lender you find.

Thank you Mr. Akerley. Since you are a loan officer, are you familiar with physician only loans? I heard about them on Suze Orman's show a couple of weeks after I had closed on my home and I would really like to take advantage of these loans as I am a new physician and the PMI is really taking a toll on me. Thank you.

hi mark,

as far as i know, if you are not paying 20% down, you will have to pay the pmi. otherwise the lenders are not ready to give you a loan. it would have been better if you you would have given a 20% down payment. you can try to refinance your existing loan. in order to refinance, your current loan should be at least 6-7 months old. you should also check if there is a pre-payment penalty clause attached to the loan. if there is a pre-payment penalty clause, then you may have pay a penalty if you pay off the loan early.

thanks

mark, i had familiarity a few years ago (more likely several, actually), but where i've worked lately hasn't offered these loans as a regular item.

i know that they carry features as you have noted, but who and where you would be best-served to obtain one, i don't know. i have a suspicion that obtaining one to refinance might be quite difficult, as my recognition is that it is a purchase-oriented product. nevertheless, i wish you well.

well, doctor loan usa, i would ordinarily feel that bringing attention to your own company is somewhat bad form, but i appreciate your disclaimer that you're only attempting to provide valuable information.

i'm most gratified that you didn't pontificate and try to let us know that you're the world's best at what you do, or that you can be of assistance "if you only call me now" or any of that folderol.

I read the information on the website. I would say that the physician loan probably serves a useful purpose in some cases. If they really do 100% LTV with no PMI and 95% LTV in declining market areas and they do those loans as advertised up to $1,000,000 and the best terms are for credit scores of 700 to 720+ or better and they do not count deferred student loans in the debt ratio, etc, etc
While the info provided is certainly useful and it is marketing and it is certainly something for a physician to check into, I would say not all the information is correct and physicians could check locally and compare what is available.
THE WEB SITE STATES THAT STUDENT LOANS ARE ALWAYS COUNTED IN THE DEBT RATIOS EVEN IF DEFERRED. That is not correct. The Agency loans do not count deferred student loans if the mortgage is manually underwritten. They do if automated underwriitng.
We have local, bank portfolio loans that do not count deferred student loans in the debt ratio and are normal rates for physicians as well as anyone else with credit sores in the 600s.
The website does not address if the physician is newly self employed or if only W2 with a salary. If they work with newly self employed that is a benefit.
Can not tell, but in some cases regular loans with PMI could be better than the physician loan because we have no idea what rates exist for no PMI etc.
As with most things, they are worth looking into and then comparing if anything else is available.
I have listened to Suzie Orman for a minute at a time because I can not take it any longer. She probably knows a lot more than I do, but, on TV their time is limited and they often speak in generalities thast are not blanketly applicable across the board for everyone.

i had to laugh, John. I don't remember ever having made it through 60 seconds of Suze Orman.

Most of the self-help "gurus" on television, such as she is (Dr. Phil, etc.) are full of hot air, and my main impression (yes, I could definitely be wrong) is that they're more into self-promotion than anything else.

Can you get some help from these folk? Sure, but my Bible tells me more than all of them put together, and I dare say I have friends/coworkers who have more concrete ideas among them as well.

Bank of America (fairly reputable) has a physician loan program with 100% LTV and no PMI... at least they did in 2005 when I bought my condo with them. Probably worth a phone call.

Ben

When they say there is no PMI and the LTV is greater than 80%, then they are increasing the interest rate in lieu of the PMI. In many instances that is a better option because (until recent tax changes in many states) the PMI was not tax deductible but the interest was.

Back to the doctor loan. I researched this a few years ago and I was working with a few banks that offered the doctor loan option. The problem is that there was no benefit by selecting that program. No rate difference. No LTV differences or credit score requirements that were different. ...nothing.

Hi George,

No worries, I appreciate your candor and honesty. I am not going to get into any discussions or try to convince people to use our company, or try to explain why the information on our site is correct/incorrect.

Just want to let people know the doctor loan exists, it is alive and well, and it truly can save them a good amount of money.

Thanks again! Wish everyone the best for 2009.

Sorry, that was me above!

Help...we just found out about these types of loans and are looking for a reputable mortgage company that offers these types of loans.

Hi

Not many lenders offer this type of loans. You need to do a fair bit of shopping around to get one. However, one of the guests, Ben MD, had mentioned here that he did get one from the Bank Of America back in 2005. Why don't you call them and see if they still offer such loans?

you'd be just as well off by doing a google search for physician loans. the people who worked at bofa back in 2005 are probably elsewhere now, and you'll probably only get puzzled looks. i know that doesn't translate over the phone, but you get the picture, i think.

See my response above.....no added benefit for physicians from what I found. You are better off simply getting the best rate possible minus the "doctor loan" feature.