How it actually goes
Five steps, and the first one costs you nothing but a phone call.
Stop Cryin', Call Ryan. Ryan Mandley · NMLS #1181993
Talk before you shop
Fifteen minutes on the phone. Where you are in training, what your contract says, what the student loans look like. You get a realistic price range out of it. No credit pull, no application, nothing to sign.
Get fully underwritten
Not a pre-qualification letter generated from what you told me — an actual underwritten approval. It takes longer up front and it is the reason these offers get accepted against buyers with more cash.
Write a strong offer
I send a plain-language letter with every pre-approval explaining what a physician loan is, because most listing agents have never seen one. If it helps, I will take the agent’s call myself.
Lock deliberately
Rate strategy depends on your close date and whether you are buying new construction. We decide it on purpose rather than defaulting into it.
Close, possibly before you start work
With a contract-based file, closing ahead of your start date is normal. Coordinating that against a lease end or an out-of-state sale is most of what I do.
Timing note for anyone matching or graduating
If you finish training in June, the useful conversation happens in January or February — not because underwriting is slow, but because you want the approval in hand the day something good lists. The people who get the house are the ones who were ready first.
Find out what you actually qualify for.
One conversation, no credit pull. If a physician loan is not your best option I will tell you that too — and then tell you what is.