Physicians and other healthcare providers are challenged by years of medical school, residencies, and fellowships, even after graduating from college. Because of this, it is not uncommon for physicians, doctors, and other healthcare professionals to begin their careers well into their thirties.
Of course, this education assures that only the most qualified physicians make it through.
But starting your career a decade later than many of your peers has some downsides. In addition to extra student debt, many young doctors start their careers without the financial means to buy a home. Money remains tight for a period of time, and doctors don't have a ton of extra money to build a down payment.
However, many mortgage lenders in the market have created a solution to this.
This article will discuss physician mortgage loans offered by Huntington Bank, and then compare the program to its competition.
Down payment | 4/5 stars |
Qualifying professionals | 5/5 stars |
Loan options | 5/5 stars |
Min. credit score | 4/5 stars |
Application experience | 4/5 stars |
Overall | 4 stars |
What is Huntington Bank?
Huntington Bank was founded in 1866 and is now the 26th largest bank in the United States. They offer the full gambit of traditional banking services, including checking/savings accounts, loans of all types, credit cards, and investing services.
Huntington is also well known for its home lending and refinancing programs offered to borrowers across the country.
And while it doesn't receive the attention of its other services, they also offers physician home loans to qualifying doctors.
What are physician mortgages?
Physician mortgages are special home loan programs offered by certain lenders to physicians and other qualifying doctors and healthcare providers. Physician mortgages, sometimes referred to as doctor loans or physician loans, come with several specific advantages, including:
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) waivers
No down payment requirements
Relaxed debt-to-income approval requirements
These perks are offered for a number of different reasons. First, doctors complete so many years of schooling that it is not unusual for them to not start their careers until their mid to late 30s. Given the years of expensive schooling and study, these physicians likely would not have the savings or credit required to buy a home.
The benefits of physician mortgages are also offered with customer lifetime value in mind. Lenders like Huntington Bank understand that physicians are likely to be among the highest earners in the future and hope that, by building a relationship now, these doctors will one day use their more lucrative investment or insurance services.
Huntington Bank's physician mortgage program
Huntington Bank's home loans can be accessed by prospective borrowers in the following states: AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC.
For those keeping track, that is 39 out of the 50 states nationwide.
To accurately review Huntington Bank's physician mortgage program, I want to look at a few different criteria, including:
Down payment requirements
Qualifying medical professionals
Loan options
Credit score and DTI requirements
1. Down payment requirements
Huntington Bank doctor home loans can be used by qualifying practitioners to finance home purchases up to $2 million. Those that purchase homes for less than $1 million can receive 100% financing with no down payment. Those looking to buy more home can do so according to the following financing guidelines:
5% down payment for loans between $1 million and $1.25 million
10% down payment for loans between $1.25 million and $2 million
These funds come with no private mortgage insurance requirements and can be used to buy a home, townhome, or condo, so long as the property purchased will serve as your primary residence.
2. Qualifying medical professionals
As of the time of writing, Huntington Bank's doctor loans can be taken by medical doctors, dentists, and qualifying veterinarians, so long as they have one of the following degrees and have an active contract of employment.
MD
DO
DVM
DPM
DDS
DMD
3. Huntington Bank home loan options
Those looking to participate in the Huntington Bank physician mortgage program can choose from a variety of fixed and adjustable-rate loan options, including:
15 and 30 year fixed
3/1, 5/1, 7/1, 10/1, 15/1 ARMs
Whether or not you should consider a fixed or adjustable-rate mortgage depends on a number of variables, including the interest rate environment at the time you buy your home. If you apply for a mortgage in a low interest rate environment, it likely does not make sense to take an ARM knowing that your monthly payments could increase at some point in the future.
But the inverse is also true. If rates are high and likely to drop in the short to medium term, an ARM could be a great way to save some money in the future.
4. Credit score requirements
To qualify for a Huntington Bank physician loan, borrowers should have a minimum credit score of 680. And while this may be a touch higher than some of the other lenders offering doctor and professional loans, Huntington also will work with physicians with debt-to-income ratios as high as 50%.
This can work really well for doctors and other highly educated medical professionals that had to finance graduate and post-graduate medical studies.
Applying for a mortgage with Huntington Bank
To help us provide you with the best lender review possible, we also explored the application process. You can get started directly through this link on the Huntington website.
After clicking the "Get Started" button, we quickly found a highly digital application experience. You'll start by creating a username and password, after which you'll be shown more details of the process.
After you've created your account and uploaded information into the portal, you'll begin to see personalized information, rates, and term options for the program(s) you have interest in.
You'll be asked to provide information about your financial situation, including:
Your name, SSN, and personal identification
Your income - including paystubs, W2, and other requested information
Your debt(s) - including any student loans you still have outstanding
Investment and retirement account balances
Your current address
Other information as requested
Overall, we found the portal easy to navigate and as millennials, we always appreciate a highly digital experience wherever possible. One part of the process that we could not evaluate, however, is the promptness of application processing by Huntington Bank's loan officers.
Huntington Bank pros and cons
In our experience, we've identified a number of both pros and cons to taking a physician mortgage with Huntington. We'll first call out and discuss our favorite parts of them as a lender.
1. 1oo% financing options
In recent years, it feels like some lenders offering doctor loans have started to do away with 100% financing programs. Huntington Bank, of course, has not joined this list. With 100% financing possible up to $1 million, doctors in most areas of the country will be able to get into their new home for just the closing costs.
2. Eligibility for more types of providers
Sometimes, mortgage lenders only open up these programs to very specific types of healthcare providers. But Huntington Bank has opened up their physician loan program to other types of providers too, including dentists, veterinarians, podiatrists, and ophthalmologists.
This additional flexibility is always nice to see and can benefit many nationwide.
Next, here are a couple of things we'd like to see Huntington improve upon in the future.
1. Not offered everywhere
Like many other regional lenders, this doctor loan program is not offered nationwide. And while it is offered in about 40 states nationwide, those states that are not included loom large. Three of the United States' four largest states by population - California, Texas, and New York - are not participating states.
2. High down payment requirement
To qualify for 100% financing, you'll need a credit score of at least 700 (otherwise, you'll need a score of 680). This can be difficult for many young doctors to achieve, given their years of schooling and hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt that may have accrued.
For those with high credit scores, Huntington Bank can be a great option as a mortgage lender. But for those with lower scores, you'll need to look elsewhere.
Huntington Bank vs. other physician loans
How does Huntington Bank's physician loan program stack up with some of the larger players in the space, mainly Truist, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, and TD Bank? Let's take a closer look and compare each lender based on:
Down payment requirements
Qualifying medical professionals
Credit score and DTI requirements
Down payments
We already know that Huntington Bank offers 100% financing up to $1 million, 95% financing up to $1.25 million, and 90% financing up to $2 million. Here is how that compares to the other major players in the market:
Truist: 100% financing up to $2 million if less than 10 years past end of training
Bank of America: 95% financing up to $1 million, 90% financing up to $1.5 million
Citizens Bank: 95% financing up to $850k, 89% financing up to $1 million
TD Bank: 100% financing up to $1 million, 95% financing up to $1.5 million, 89.9% financing up to $2 million
With this in mind, this firmly puts Huntington Bank's flexible financing very close to the top of the list. It is clearly more advantageous than Bank of America and Citizens Bank, and pretty much right on par with TD Bank.
Truist does offer an incredible program for new physicians, but it is very much the outlier in this group, rather than normal.
Qualifying physicians
To review, Huntington offers their physician home loan program to those with the following degrees:
MD
DO
DVM
DPM
DDS
DMD
Each lender can decide what types of healthcare professionals and physicians are eligible for its program. With this in mind:
Truist offers its loans to those with an MD, DO, DPM, DDS, or DMD.
Bank of America offers loans to those with an MD, DO, DPM, DDS, DMD, or DO.
Citizens offers loans to those with an MD, DO, DDS, or DMD.
TD Bank offers loans to those with an MD, DO, DPM, DDS, or DMD.
As you can see, these lender specific programs are largely similar, though Huntington Bank offers programs to more types of healthcare providers. In particular, they are the only lender offering physician loan eligibility to veterinarians, which is a big win for them.
Credit score/DTI requirements
Each lender also may opt to implement their own credit score and debt-to-income ratio requirements, depending on their underwriting policies and risk management strategies. To review, Huntington requires a credit score of 680 and maximum DTI ratio of 50%.
And while some lenders don't publish all of these requirements, compare this to:
Truist: 680 credit score
Bank of America: 700 credit score
Citizens: 700 credit score
TD Bank: 720 credit score for 100% financing
Time for my verdict. Though Huntington Bank is measurably smaller than Truist, BoA, Citizens, and TD Bank, its physician loan program is no slouch. In fact, if I was a physician in a participating area, it may be my first pick!
Is a Huntington Bank physician loan for you?
One of the most popular questions we receive is how to know whether a certain home loan program is right for you. In response to these questions, we've built a checklist to help you decide whether the Huntington Bank doctor loan program is a good fit for you:
Are you looking to buy a home for under $1 million? Those looking to buy a home for under $1 million ought to seriously consider Huntington Bank because there is no down payment requirement.
What is your credit score? Remember - lenders set their own credit score requirements. Because of this, your score should play a role in your lender selection process. Huntington Bank has a minimum credit score of 700 to qualify for 100% financing. And even if your score is in the 600s, you are likely to qualify for the program.
Are you okay with a digital experience? We recommend that you keep in mind that the application process with Huntington is highly digital, so if you'd prefer the opportunity to do it in person or have a loan officer walk you through the process, you may want to consider another lender. Otherwise, we have no hesitations.
Download our physician mortgage calculator
Doctors looking to buy homes in the short to medium term should download our free mortgage calculator. This tool will help you to:
Project your monthly mortgage payments
Understand how different home purchase prices, down payments, loan terms, rates, and property tax amounts will impact your monthly payments
Gauge exactly how much home you can afford
You'll only need to provide us with 6 basic pieces of information, and we'll be happy to help you out.
Related: Learn more about physician mortgages
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