Referred to by various people as both the “Peach State” and “The Empire State of the South,” Georgia was one of the original 13 colonies and offers a number of various landscapes from the mountains in the west to the coast of the east.

The Appalachian Trail also runs through the state, and Georgia is home to a number of professional sports teams, including the Atlanta Braves in baseball and the Atlanta Falcons in football.

All of this adds up to make the Peach State an appealing place to live, including over 24,000 active physicians. For many, however, including doctors, owning a home in Georgia may seem out of reach. Data from the Georgia Realtors shows the average sales price for single-family homes is $352,069 as of 2021. The median sales price of a single-family home in Georgia increased by 18% from 2020 to 21021.   

If you are a doctor or dentist living in Georgia or planning to buy a home here, the physician mortgage loan program present in the state may allow you to do so with a very low – or even nonexistent – down payment. 

Reasons to consider a doctor mortgage loan in Georgia

Before deciding on any mortgage, including a physician mortgage, take the time to weigh some of the pros and cons. In the future, your paycheck might be plenty to cover the mortgage payment on your new home. But getting access to that new home now is a challenge because you don’t have the down payment needed.

For physicians who don’t own an investment property or other home, you don’t have a place to refinance and get funds for that down payment, either. When refinancing and traditional loan options are off the table, you need an alternative way to get the funding for that dream property you found on the NMLS.

If you’ll be starting your new job in one year or less, you might be able to get that new home through a physician loan.

What are the pros that come with a Georgia doctor mortgage? They include:

• Little to no down payment (i.e. up to 100% financing)
• Limits that are much higher than those available with conventional mortgages
• No PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance)
• Special treatment of student debt

There are cons with these loans, including:

• Taking on additional debt, making loan repayment difficult
• Possibly buying “too much house” with the higher limits
• Higher interest rates, at times

Also, remember that your lender may well want you to open an account with them. Whether this is a pro or a con, depends on your perspective. 

Is a Georgia physician mortgage loan right for you?

How can you know if a Georgia physician mortgage loan is right for you? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Have I been in my job for more than a year or two?
• Am I happy in my job and planning on staying in this position?
• Am I okay with a higher interest rate?
• Am I willing to enter into a long-term commitment with a bank, including opening a bank account in addition to taking out a mortgage? 

If you answered yes to all of the above, a physician mortgage may be the best choice for you. Signing any mortgage should mean that you are committed to your job and foresee staying in that position for years to come. Some of these mortgages, too, can come with a higher interest rate; many view this as a small price to pay for the advantages involved. Finally, your lender may ask you to also open an account with their institution. After all, they extend these products to professionals like you in order to covet long-term relationships with high-earning professionals. 

If you’re a medical resident, you usually don’t have access to substantial down payments, but still want to be able to buy a home when you start a job. Physician home loans provide a path to homeownership for physicians with new healthcare job offers (based on the strength of the employment contract). Knowing the right mortgage lenders and the various details, such as interest rates, loan amounts, and disclosures, can be helpful when deciding if a physician mortgage loan is right for you.

Examples of medical doctors who use physician loans in Georgia

Who are the individuals taking advantage of doctor mortgages in Georgia? They are doctors and professionals just like you. 

A pediatrician who doesn’t have down payment

Richard is a popular pediatrician in the Atlanta area, loved by parents, patients and colleagues alike. While he has built his practice up and is now quite comfortable in terms of income, he hasn’t been able to save up for a large down payment on a home. He could swing 10 percent, but with conventional loans as tight as they are at the moment, that might not allow him to qualify, especially since his student debt is still dinging his DTI ratio. A doctor mortgage in Georgia will allow him to buy a home with 100 percent financing, or no money down. 

A physician who wants to maximize leverage

Shay is a resident at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Barrow. Her career is going well and it is clear that she will be earning a good deal soon enough, since her specialty is orthopedics. She managed to save some money during medical school and undergrad, but she invested it and doesn’t have much cash on hand. Buying a home seems like good commonsense right now, but how can she proceed with no down payment? Luckily, she can maximize her leverage by taking out a physician loan, putting nothing down and allowing her to hold on to her investments. 

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