Physician loan programs will finance up to 100% of a primary residence with no mortgage insurance at any loan-to-value, and they let a doctor qualify on a fully executed employment contract instead of pay history. In CMG Financial's MedPro Premier guidelines (NMLS #1820, revised 09/11/2026), that is 100% financing to $1,500,000 with a 680 score, or to $2,000,000 with a 720, on a one-unit primary residence.
That is the headline. The part that decides your file is narrower, and it is worth understanding before you fall in love with a house.
Who actually counts as a physician
The designation list is explicit, and there are no substitutions. Under the MedPro Premier guidelines, at least one qualifying borrower must hold one of: MD, DO, DDS, DMD, PharmD, DVM, VMD, DPM, or CRNA. Residents, fellows and interns holding those degrees are included. The guidelines also name Doctor of Ophthalmology, Doctor of Psychiatry, and Nurse Practitioners with an MSN or DNP.
What that list does not include matters as much as what it does. If your degree is not on it, the answer is not "close enough." It is a different program, and there is usually a good one, which is the subject of a separate post in this series on graduate and professional programs.
The two structures, and why they are not interchangeable
There are two common shapes to a physician loan, and lenders do not always explain that you are choosing between them.
The high-leverage fixed option. MedPro Premier runs fixed rate terms of 15, 20, 25 and 30 years plus hybrid ARMs, on a primary residence, for purchase or rate and term refinance. The eligibility matrix allows 95% to $2,000,000, and 100% to $1,500,000 at 680 or to $2,000,000 at 720. Mortgage insurance is not required regardless of loan-to-value. Above 90.01%, secondary financing is not allowed and escrow accounts are required unless state law prohibits them.
The adjustable option at 95%. MedPro Advantage (revised 07/16/2025) is a different animal: a fully amortizing ARM in 5/6, 7/6 and 10/6 SOFR terms, purchase of a primary residence only, 720 minimum score, 43% maximum debt-to-income, and six months of reserves. It runs $400,000 to $1,500,000 at up to 95%, and $1,500,001 to $2,000,000 at up to 90%. Mortgage insurance is again not required. Condominiums in Florida are specifically ineligible, which tells you how property-specific these programs get.
Notice what separates them. The Advantage program caps debt-to-income at 43% and demands six months of reserves. The Premier program allows more leverage and, on fixed rate terms, more room in the ratio. A resident with a new contract and thin savings and a mid-career partner with a large balance sheet are not the same file, and they should not be pushed into the same product.
The trap: 100% financing is a tool, not a default
A physician loan solves a specific problem. You have a strong forward income trajectory, limited savings early in your career, and a student loan balance that would sink a conventional debt-to-income calculation. If that is your situation, this is the structure that gets the house bought.
If it is not your situation, be careful. Putting zero down means you own no equity on day one, and in a market that moves sideways for two years you have no cushion to sell or refinance into. If you have 20% available and your ratios work, run conventional financing side by side and compare the total cost over the years you realistically hold the loan, not over thirty. Sometimes the physician program still wins on cash preservation. Sometimes it does not. The comparison is the point.
What to have ready
For a program that qualifies you on future income, the document set is smaller than you expect and more specific than you expect:
- The fully executed employment contract. Not an offer letter under negotiation. Executed, with the start date and the compensation structure.
- Proof of the designation. The degree or the license.
- Your student loan detail, including whether anything sits in deferment, forbearance or an income-based repayment plan showing zero. Residents and fellows get specific treatment there, and it is significant enough that it has its own post in this series.
- Reserves documentation, because the ARM structure in particular requires six months and that is verified, not asserted.
Where Scottsdale buyers get caught
Two things, repeatedly.
The first is property type. These programs are written around one-unit primary residences, attached or detached, including condos, townhomes and PUDs, but each has its own condo overlay. A Scottsdale luxury condo with heavy commercial space, an investor concentration problem or pending litigation can be ineligible on a physician program and perfectly financeable on a different one. Find that out before the appraisal, not after.
The second is timing against a start date. Qualifying on a contract means the lender is underwriting a job you have not started. There are rules about how far ahead of the start date you can close, and they vary by program and by investor. If you are relocating to a Scottsdale or Phoenix practice, that timeline drives when you write the offer.
Why bring this file to us
- We read the contract, not just the paystub. A signed, fully executed employment agreement is qualifying income on these programs, and the start date drives the whole timeline.
- We tell you when the physician program is the wrong answer. At lower loan-to-value with cash in the bank, conventional financing is frequently cheaper. That comparison is the first call, not an afterthought.
- Scottsdale condo experience. Physician programs restrict condos differently than agency does, and a Florida condo exclusion on one program tells you how specific these rules get.
- Broker model. Multiple investors rather than one bank's shelf, which is what a file like this needs when the first answer is no.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending, NMLS #173141, lending in Arizona since 1999. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
Send me your contract and your license, and I will tell you which of these structures your file actually fits before you start looking in Scottsdale.
Program figures in this post are from the CMG Financial (NMLS #1820) guideline set named above, as published on the revision date given. They describe one investor's program at one point in time. Other investors price and underwrite the same borrower differently, guidelines change without notice, and nothing here is an offer of any specific program or terms. Confirm current eligibility on your own file before you plan around any of it.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, income and asset verification, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM, asset-based and business purpose financing carry different pricing, terms and consumer protections than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding the tax treatment of any income or distribution strategy.
Find out what you qualify for before you start looking
Tell me where you are in training or practice and I will tell you which structure fits your file, what it needs, and what it does not. No credit pull to have the conversation.
