Florida Physician Mortgage: What Doctors Need to Know in 2026

Educational content only. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial, legal, or lending advice. Loan programs, rates, and eligibility requirements change frequently. Consult a licensed mortgage professional before making any borrowing decision. Mortgage Capital | NMLS# 1859012 | Licensed in Florida.

A physician mortgage in Florida works differently from a conventional loan. It's designed for medical professionals who earn well but look risky on paper, carrying high student debt alongside new employment and limited cash reserves. A physician mortgage Florida program accounts for all of that.

Why Doctors Get Special Loan Terms

Standard underwriting penalizes student loan debt heavily. A new attending physician with $250,000 in student loans would see a massive debt-to-income hit on a conventional loan.

Physician mortgage programs handle student debt differently. Many lenders exclude deferred student loans from the DTI calculation entirely. Others use an income-based repayment figure rather than the full amortized payment. That change alone can shift a DTI from failing to passing.

Who Qualifies

Most Florida physician mortgage programs cover MDs, DOs, dentists, and veterinarians. Some extend to podiatrists, pharmacists, and other advanced-degree medical professionals. Residents and fellows qualify at many lenders. You don't need to be an attending yet.

Employment start dates matter. Many lenders accept a signed employment contract as proof of income, even if you haven't started yet. That's critical for new attendings who want to buy before their first paycheck.

Down Payment and Loan Limits

Physician mortgages typically allow 0–10% down with no PMI. That's the main appeal. You can buy a $900,000 home with $90,000 down and no mortgage insurance added to your payment.

Loan limits vary by lender. Most Florida physician programs go up to $1.5 million with 5–10% down. Above $2 million you'll typically need 20% or more.

What makes a physician loan different

Three features do most of the work. Low or zero down payment without mortgage insurance. Student loan debt treated favorably. An employment contract accepted in place of pay stubs.

That third one matters most for residents and fellows. A signed contract with a future start date can qualify you before you have earned a dollar.

Loan amounts run well above conforming limits at many lenders, which suits South Florida price points.

The trade is a rate slightly above a comparable conventional loan. For most physicians the absence of mortgage insurance more than covers it.

How student loans are handled

This is the difference that decides most files. Conventional underwriting counts a percentage of the balance when payments are deferred, which can be a large monthly figure.

Physician programs typically use the actual income-driven payment, or exclude deferred loans entirely.

On $280,000 of student debt that difference can be over $2,000 a month in the ratio. It routinely decides whether a file works.

Bring your current servicer statements showing the actual payment. Estimates will not do.

Who else qualifies

Programs vary, but many extend beyond MDs and DOs. Dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, podiatrists and pharmacists appear on lender lists.

Some include attorneys and CPAs. Ours covers the wider professional set on the physician loan page.

Attending physicians usually get the best terms. Residents get access earlier at slightly tighter leverage.

If a physician program is not the best fit, a conventional loan with 5% down sometimes prices better once student debt is manageable.

Buying during residency

Residents can often close on a physician loan sixty to ninety days before their start date.

The signed contract stands in for pay stubs. That is the feature that makes it possible.

It carries a real question though. Residency is finite, and selling in three years can cost more than renting would have.

Transaction costs run six to eight percent of the sale price in Florida once commission and doc stamps are counted.

Buy if you are reasonably confident you will stay past that. Rent if you are not.

The loan being available does not make it the right call.

Where South Florida prices meet physician programs

Many physician loans exceed conforming limits, which suits Palm Beach and coastal Broward price points.

Zero down at those amounts is unusual in any other program.

Watch the condo question though. Physician programs are as sensitive to warrantability as anyone else.

A building with an open milestone inspection or a large pending assessment can fail regardless of your profession.

Check the building before the offer, not after inspection.

Our condo loans page covers what the review examines.

Refinancing out later

Physician loans price slightly above conventional. Once you hold twenty percent equity, refinancing to conventional often lowers the rate.

There is no mortgage insurance to remove, since the physician loan never had it. The saving is purely rate.

Run it on the refinance calculator before assuming it is worth the closing costs.

Reserves

Most physician programs want two to six months of payments in reserve. Retirement accounts usually count at a discount.

Applying for a Physician Mortgage in Florida

The process is similar to any mortgage. You'll need your employment contract or recent pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, and documentation of your student loans.

South Florida's medical centers, among them Cleveland Clinic, Baptist Health and Jackson Health, regularly relocate physicians who need financing quickly. We specialize in physician mortgages in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties and can close on tight timelines.