Physician Home Mortgage

[Laeno]

Hi all,

I appreciate everyone's input here, and I lurk (edited, not troll, not sure how i mixed that one up!) quite frequently, but post rarely.  My wife and I are under contract to build a home (which may have been a wee bit premature, and a bit too big, but we're here now and still doing OK financialy).

Anyway, I'm looking loans (starting with https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/websites-2/physician-mortgage-loans/), and want to compare to my builder's lender (to see if they'll match and keep their incentives for using them).  I feel like a fish out of water.  I got a few quotes right after we went under contract, and found that rates were all pretty well within 0.5% of each other, which still seems like a good spread.  Some loan officers (assuming that's the right term) were super helpful, others less so.

I assume I should pick one or two to go through underwriting with along with my builder's mortgage to compare and have them compete, but how the heck do I pick?  There are a lot of options in Texas (I'm specifically in the DFW area) to choose from for physician home loans.

[The White Coat Investor]

I think you mean lurk, not troll. At any rate, welcome to the forum. Please don't start trolling!

I'm not sure if you can use a typical "physician mortgage" to build, but I'd check with a few of the lenders on the list for your state to see. If you're putting 20% down, you wouldn't need a typical "physician mortgage" and could just get a conventional loan.

 

[jhwkr542]

You talking construction loan, permanent loan, or construction-to-perm loan?

We're doing a similar thing now.  I e-mailed pretty much everyone on that list.  There are a couple that did do construction loans.  We let the builder finance the construction for one main reason:  If the builder finances the construction, they have a monetary incentive to finish the construction in a timely fashion.  If you're financing it (interest only loan), they lose that incentive.  Anecdotal story:  a partner is financing their McMansion and they are doing construction-perm loan.  Their builder has kept pushing back the date they'll move in.  Original move-in date was last Novemeber.  Right now it's May-ish (haven't asked for a couple of weeks though).  Make sure you factor in fees, not just the interest rate, when comparing these loans as well.

[Laeno]

It's not a construction loan.  We signed a contract with a large developer, they build the home with our custom options (from one of several base floorplans), and we pay a small amount upfront as earnest/part of our downpayment.  Once the house is done, my understanding is it's just like a normal loan for a home purchase--it just happens to be new.  In the meantime, the builder holds the loan/cost of building--we pay no interest until after our loan starts.

So, essentially, my question could be rephrased as "How do I pick from one of the many physician home loan companies for a home purchase?"

 

PS. Thanks for correcting my "troll" to "lurker" as I truly meant.  I'm usually much more internet savvy than that... perhaps it's this 24 shift that's got me off.

[The White Coat Investor]

That's a much easier proposition. What state are you in? That will dictate how many choices you have. I'd pick at least two and see what they offer, then you can see if the others will beat the best offer. By the time they've competed a bit against each other, you can be confident you're not getting ripped off, which is probably your main goal. When two lenders have told you "we can't go that low and stay profitable" you're almost surely getting a great price on the loan.

[abds]

Ask around with the local banks in your area. I got the best rates and terms from a local banks you'd never see on here. One of them paid my closing costs - I repeat, paid my closing costs. They didn't roll them into my mortgage; they paid them. I asked why and was told "we want your business for your mortgage so you come back to us when you need other loans, like for your business."

[TexasDoc]

I'm also in Texas and just refinanced and I would agree with abds.  After looking at sofi and other offers online and looking at rates I was surprised when my local bank beat them all.  Definitely worth a look.

[Laeno]

Yes, I'm in Texas.  I'll have to check in with some of the local banks to see what they can offer.  I was just under the impression they wouldn't write one without PMI.

 

I guess I'll also just pick one of the bigger loan companies to go with, too, and see what they can offer.

[FIREshrink]

I shopped all over and ended up with a great physician's loan from US Bank (10% down, excellent rate, they paid some of our closing costs). You never know, sometimes the local banks are better, sometimes the bigger banks are better. Gotta call a bunch to be sure.

[pickkles]

Check with Curbside.  They shopped our loans for us and we were able to get a great rate offers from a few different banks...We didn't realize that different banks specialize in different downpayment, credit scores, states, etc.  Saved us a lot of time and we were able to negotiate a great rate.

[Hank]

Hmm, all four of the replies you've ever posted were to tout the same company?  That seems... suspicious.

[pickkles]

Hank wrote:

Hmm, all four of the replies you’ve ever posted were to tout the same company?  That seems… suspicious.

Click to expand...

hey Curbside is my friend's company and I'm so grateful for his help during our home buying process. He refuses to accept payment so I told him I'd post it on the wci investor forum as my way of repaying him and saying thanks. Thanks for noticing!  

[DMFA]

pickkles wrote:

Hank wrote:

Hmm, all four of the replies you’ve ever posted were to tout the same company?  That seems… suspicious.

Click to expand…

hey Curbside is my friend’s company and I’m so grateful for his help during our home buying process. He refuses to accept payment so I told him I’d post it on the wci investor forum as my way of repaying him and saying thanks. Thanks for noticing!  

Click to expand...

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/physician-loan-experience-with-out-of-town-lenders/#post-43221

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/recommended-physician-mortgage-loan-company/#post-43222

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/physician-home-mortgage/#post-46753

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/help-me-with-my-math-15yr-vs-30-mortgage-and-student-loans/page/2/#post-46756

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/help-me-with-my-math-15yr-vs-30-mortgage-and-student-loans/page/2/#post-47417

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/help-me-with-my-math-15yr-vs-30-mortgage-and-student-loans/page/2/#post-47419

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/physician-home-mortgage/#post-47420

...just saying.