Physician Home Loans in Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the rare California market where a resident salary and a physician loan still reach a house.
Stop Cryin', Call Ryan. Ryan Mandley · NMLS #1181993
UC Davis anchors a large training population, and Sacramento prices — while no one would call them cheap — sit far enough below the Bay Area that ownership during training is a real option rather than a fantasy. The borrowers I see here are disproportionately residents and fellows doing the math for the first time and discovering the answer is not automatically no.
The other Sacramento pattern is the Bay Area exit: a physician taking a position at UC Davis or Sutter after years in San Francisco or the Peninsula, carrying strong income and often meaningful equity. That file is straightforward, and the useful question becomes whether to use the equity as a down payment or keep the leverage and hold the cash. Worth a conversation rather than an assumption.
- UC Davis Medical Center and UC Davis School of Medicine
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
- Kaiser Permanente Sacramento
- Shriners Children's Northern California
What the program reaches in Sacramento
Run a Sacramento payment — it checks your price against the program tiers and shows the mortgage insurance you avoid.
| Credit score | Loan up to | Mortgage insurance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 720+ | $2,000,000 | None | Smallest down payment available at every loan size |
| 680+ | $2,000,000 | None | Smallest down payment available up to a lower loan size |
There is a floor as well as a ceiling. This program is only for buyers putting a small amount down — so if you have a large down payment saved, this is not your program and a conventional loan is probably cheaper. Loan amounts run $100,000 to $2,000,000. Terms change without notice; ask me for today's matrix before you plan around a number.
Asked here more than anywhere else
I am moving from the Bay Area with equity from a sale. Should I still use a physician loan?
Maybe not — and I will say so if that is the answer. With a large down payment available, a conventional loan sometimes prices better, because physician programs often carry a slightly higher rate in exchange for the low-down-payment and no-MI structure. The comparison takes one conversation and it should be run honestly in both directions.
What exactly is a physician loan?
A mortgage program written around the fact that a doctor’s early-career finances look bad on paper and are not. It allows a small down payment on loans up to $2M, charges no mortgage insurance, excludes student loans from your debt ratio while you are in residency or fellowship, and lets a signed employment contract stand in for pay stubs with a start date up to 150 days after closing.
Do I need to have started working?
No. A fully executed contract or offer letter works with a start date up to 150 days after closing — close to five months. It has to state your title, start date and compensation, and the only contingencies allowed are your medical license coming through or routine items like a background check. If you are contracted as a 1099 physician the window is tighter, at 60 days.
Is the rate higher than a conventional loan?
Often slightly, and that is the honest trade for a low down payment and no mortgage insurance. Whether it is the better deal depends on how much you would otherwise put down. With a large down payment saved, a conventional loan sometimes wins outright. I will quote both and show you the comparison rather than steering you to the one that is easier for me.
How much student loan debt is too much?
There is rarely a hard cutoff, because what matters is how the payment is counted rather than the size of the balance. In residency or fellowship, loans in deferment, forbearance or reporting $0 on an income-driven plan can be excluded from the ratio altogether — a $400,000 balance and a $150,000 balance look the same at that point. After training the documented income-driven payment is used, which still beats the 1%-of-balance math that sinks conventional files.
Buying in Sacramento?
Tell me your timeline and your training stage and I will tell you what is realistic in Sacramento — before you start looking at houses.
Also serving California
Physician loans in Sacramento, CA.
One call, no credit pull. I will tell you what you qualify for and whether this is actually your best option.