Medical school graduates frequently encounter hurdles in purchasing a home due to substantial debt. However, maintaining a strong credit score during your studies and post-graduate training can greatly enhance your ability to secure a traditional home loan.

The average medical student in the US has somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000 in debt to pay off, which makes maintaining a good credit score very difficult. The challenge is, without this good score, qualifying for a real estate mortgage to finance your primary home can be next to impossible.

With the Citizens Bank physician mortgage program, you get access to specialized financing from a national bank that can allow you to invest in your financial future sooner. Here’s what you need to understand about this program, its benefits and drawbacks, and how you can profit.

Pros/Cons of Citizens Bank physician mortgage loans

A physician’s mortgage with Citizens Bank has numerous benefits. 

Pros

You can get a loan with a low minimum credit score. It’s true that other banks also provide physicians’ mortgage programs but they often require a minimum credit score of 720 or above. In contrast, with Citizens Bank, you’re required to have a minimum credit score of 700, giving borrowers potential access to a mortgage even with considerable debt. 

Citizens Bank provides physicians mortgages with the following terms: 

• 5% down up to $850,000
• 11% down up to $1,000,000

Applicants to this program who have a relatively high debt-to-income  (DTI) ratio can still find Citizens Bank will approve their mortgage. 

To qualify for a traditional mortgage, you often need a lower DTI as this is considered less risky for the lender.  

You can choose from a variety of mortgage types with. With Citizens Bank, you can get access to various mortgage types. The exact interest rate will depend on credit score and market conditions. These include:

• Fully-amortizing fixed-rate mortgage 
• Adjustable-rate mortgage 
• Interest-only option. (This is only available on select adjustable-rate programs and provides a maximum of 89% financing). 

Your mortgage loan can be up to:

• $600,000 maximum for licensed residents, fellows and interns 
• $400,000 maximum loan amount if you’re unlicensed 

Access to lower monthly payments. Citizens Bank doesn’t require you to get private mortgage insurance (PMI) and this can be to your advantage. With this extra payment, your monthly bills can be lower. 

High maximum loan limit. Citizens Bank provides a loan limit of up to $1,500,000 compared with many other similar programs that cap loans at $1M.

Available for a wide range of students and professionals. The Citizens Bank Physician’s Mortgage program is available to:

• Practicing physicians such as licensed medical doctors and dentists 
• Osteopathic doctors
• Doctors of medicine in dentistry (DMD)
• Dental surgeons (DDS)
• Medical residents
• Medical professionals who have been out of residency for no more than 10 years
• Research physicians
• Self-employed medical professionals with a two-year history of being self employed 
• Newly licensed medical residents (you can be currently employed, in residency, or about to begin your new employment or residency within 60 days of your mortgage closing)
• New medical professional graduates who are under contract for residency within 60 days of closing and have not yet obtained a license. 

You can defer your student loan debt. This specialty mortgage program allows you to exclude any student loan payments deferred for at least 12 months from your debt-to-income ratio. You can also use your Income Based Repayment (IBR) payment. Finally, you can use an employment contract as income to qualify leading you to home ownership sooner.  

Cons 

As with other doctor loans, the Citizens Bank physician mortgage program has a few drawbacks. 

Only a mortgage on your primary residence. You can only get a mortgage for a primary residence with this program (new mortgage or refinance). In addition, you will have to supply a down payment and you can’t get access to a loan with 0% down, unlike some other physician’s mortgage programs.

Limited geographic availability. This mortgage program is only available in certain states including: Connecticut, District of Columbia (DC), Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia , and West Virginia.

Limited type of residence. It’s important to note this loan program can only be used to finance the purchase of a condo or a home in a planned unit development (PUD), such as a townhouse. In other words, you can’t use this program to purchase a detached single family home. 

How to apply

To apply for a Citizens Bank doctor’s mortgage, check out their website and click here to find a loan officer. You can also call 1-888-514-2300 to speak with a representative.

Typically, when you apply for a home mortgage, you’ll be asked to supply an array of personal information for underwriting including:

• A letter of acceptance for your residency/fellowship with employment start date
• Tax returns from previous years
• Detailed information related to your present personal debt
• Proof of your education and degrees
• Proof of your licensing
• Your most recent bank statements
• Your social security number

Is using a Citizens Bank doctor mortgage a good idea?

If you’re a medical student in residency or a practicing medical professional less than 10 years out of your residency and you have a low credit score but money saved up for a down payment, the Citizens Bank Mortgage Program could be an ideal choice for home buying.

This program can be a great choice for those individuals looking to purchase a primary residence condo or townhome who would otherwise find it difficult to be approved for a traditional home mortgage.

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