One of the most useful — and least understood — features of a physician home loan is that you can qualify on a signed employment contract before you've worked a single day. For a resident or fellow relocating to a new city, that changes everything about timing a home purchase.
Qualify on projected income
Instead of requiring pay stubs from your new job, the program can use your future income as stated in a fully executed offer letter. The letter needs to be signed by all parties and clearly state your position, your salary or compensation, and a start date.
- Fully executed contract or offer letter, signed by all parties
- States your position/title, salary, and start date
- Start date no more than 150 days after the Note date
What contingencies are allowed
Underwriting will accept a few normal contingencies on the offer without disqualifying it. The allowed ones are narrow and predictable:
- Receipt of your medical license
- Routine administrative items — background check, drug test, fingerprinting
Because the start date can be up to 150 days after the Note date, many physicians close and even move in before their first day — and before the first W-2 ever arrives.
How to sequence it
The cleanest path is to get pre-qualified as soon as your contract is signed, then begin the home search with a clear budget and a closing timeline built around your start date. Working with one team for both the search and the financing keeps the offer letter, the appraisal, and the closing date aligned instead of fighting each other.
If your contract is signed — or about to be — that's the moment to start the conversation. The earlier we map the timeline, the more smoothly the close lands before day one.