Evaluate where you are at in this timeline. If you are 6 months out from needing to be in a home, you will want to make sure you connect with a Realtor and Mortgage loan officer ASAP. Usually the first step in the process is finding a Realtor if you want to be represented by one. A Realtor typically will give you a few names of loan officers they trust to get quotes from. Realtors ARE NOT trained on the financing side of purchasing a home, and the majority have never worked with physician loans. Take anything your realtor says about financing with a grain of salt-as they are not experts in the mortgage field.

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We recommend you get a "soft" prequalification from ONE lender 6 months prior to you purchasing a home. A soft prequalification usually is where you fill out an online application and provide estimates without hard documentations (EG, employment contracts, exact salary, bank statements ect). They will also pull your credit. 

We recommend you do this for two reasons

1. Check for fraud on your credit.

2. Check your scores. Getting your credit pulled will only affect your score about 5-10 points. By the time you will want to have it re-pulled about 3 months later, it will have recovered by then.

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By doing this you will save yourself from the headache not being able to purchase a home in the timeframe you would like due to unexpected credit problems. These issues listed above can take 6 months+ to resolve, which is why we recommend checking it early. 

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Getting prequalified for a loan is not a commitment to use that lender. In fact, even after you start a mortgage and "lock in a loan" with a company you can back out all the way until you sign the final mortgage papers if you would like. We don't like having our personal information everywhere, which is why we recommend you get the soft pre-qualification with one lender, and ask for them to provide you with your "qualifying score" for your credit to use to shop to other lenders. You do not need to do a loan application at every lender to get quotes. Always get at least THREE quotes for a mortgage, including one from a Physician Loan lender to compare to any and all mortgage quotes that you get.  We will teach you more about this in depth in our "How to shop for a mortgage" section.

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If you need help finding a realtors and loan officers that specialize in working with physicians in your area we have complied a resource page below.

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Click HERE to get a list of physician loan lenders in your area.

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Click  HERE  to get connected to a REU vetted Physician Realtor in your area

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A typical mortgage pre-qualification letter lasts 3-6 months (depending on the bank) before they need to re-pull your credit, which gives you time to search for a home.

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