The Michigan Physician Guide, From the Lender
Program and regulatory figures verified October 9, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Everything on this site in one read: what the loan does, what the state programme does, and where the two intersect on your timeline.
1. The loan
A physician mortgage qualifies you on a signed employment contract instead of pay stubs from a job that has not started. The contract shows a start date no more than 150 days after the note date, and compensation over at least 12 months.
Agency underwriting works on roughly a 90-day runway. The extra sixty days is what lets an incoming attending or fellow close in spring against a July start. The timing rule · Against a conventional loan.
2. The state programme
MSLRP (Michigan State Medical Society) pays up to $300,000 in tax-free funds over up to 10 years, in consecutive two-year agreements requiring 40 hours a week for no less than 45 weeks a year at an eligible nonprofit site. Your employer contributes 20% (or 50% if for-profit placing you into a nonprofit site).
★ For 2026: new MiLogin portal, the provider submits, and an incomplete package is screened out for the year. The award · What changed · Who gets priority.
3. ★ Where the two meet
They meet on the calendar and in the debt column.
On the calendar: the MSLRP window (March–April) sits almost exactly inside the 150-day pre-start window for a July job. Both conversations want starting in winter.
In the debt column: an award is a future event at underwriting, because agreements do not begin until 1 October. It changes your ten-year picture, not your ratio today. How debt is counted.
4. The market you are buying in
| Metro | Typical value | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Traverse City | $422,480 | +2.9% |
| Ann Arbor | $416,914 | +2.5% |
| Grand Rapids | $357,283 | ★ +4.9% |
| Detroit | $267,167 | +2.1% |
Every metro rose. None is near the $832,750 limit. All six metros.
5. What it costs to transact
Michigan's combined transfer tax is 0.86%, customarily the seller's. About $3,440 on a $400,000 purchase. The statutes.
6. Who the loan is for
Physicians and dentists are the core. Many programmes extend to other professionals, and the list is a lender term that varies. Who qualifies · Dentists.
7. The order to do this in
- Winter: send us the signed contract. Start the MSLRP Part B request with your loan servicer. MDHHS says it takes longest.
- 2 March – 30 April: MSLRP window. Complete package or lose the year.
- Spring: close, inside the 150-day window before your start.
- July: start work.
- 1 October: MSLRP agreement begins, if awarded.
★ Our lane
We are a mortgage lender. We read MSLRP's published terms because they change the debt behind your file. We do not administer it, submit applications, score them, or advise on them. MDHHS does all of that. Nothing here is tax, legal or financial advice.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. (480) 296-6513.
Frequently asked questions
What is a physician loan in Michigan?
A mortgage that qualifies a doctor on a signed employment contract rather than on pay stubs from a job that has not started, closing up to 150 days before the start date against roughly 90 days for agency underwriting, and treating student debt differently in the qualifying ratios. In Michigan it is rarely about loan size, since all 83 counties sit at the $832,750 conforming limit.How does Michigan's loan repayment programme fit with buying a house?
They overlap on the calendar. The 2026 application window runs March 2 to April 30, which sits inside the 150-day pre-start window for a July employment start, so both conversations should begin in winter. Agreements do not begin until October 1, so an award is a future event rather than a reduction in the balance at underwriting.What is the biggest mistake a Michigan physician buyer can make in 2026?
Submitting an incomplete loan repayment application. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services changed the review process so that incomplete packages are screened out of the cycle and the applicant is encouraged to reapply the following year, where previously they could supplement the file.Do I need a jumbo loan as a physician in Michigan?
Rarely. All 83 Michigan counties sit at the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 and the most expensive metro by typical home value was Traverse City at $422,480 for the month ending August 31, 2026, so most physician purchases are comfortably inside agency territory.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about physician mortgage financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. The Michigan State Loan Repayment Program is administered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, not by Cornerstone; its terms, award amounts, priorities and application windows are set by MDHHS and change. Figures here carry the date we verified them against the programme's own published materials. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees and overlays are set by the lender and change. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.