Physician loan to purchase duplex?

[Caroline Lucius]

Curious to know if anyone may have some insight for my situation... My fiance and I are looking to house hack a duplex in Chattanooga, TN in the next couple of months. He is a family medicine resident so we're seeking a physician loan as opposed to FHA in order to avoid the PMI that comes with a low down payment. Two lenders I've looked into so far only offer physician loans for a single-unit primary residence. Does anyone know if that is standard with physician loans or happen to have experience using this type of loan for an investment property? Thanks!

[Andrew Postell]

@Caroline Lucius there's about half a dozen different "physician" loans in the mortgage industry. One will fit if you did "this" in school...one will fit "this" type of a doctor better...but most of them are trying to solve for certain things - like if you are just being paid 1099 right out of college or if your student loans count against you too much. Most of them also have PMI as well. Again, some do NOT have PMI...but those may not fit your specific scenario.   You can also buy duplexes with SOME of the physician loans.

My recommendation here is that you work with a realtor and a lender that specializes in this space.  Usually a realtor knows a good lender in this space.  Your lender may need to be a broker to have all of the options here.  I would say that they need to have 4 different physician loans at a minimum to give you a reasonable shot of one of them fitting.  

Hope all of that makes sense.