7 Best Physician Mortgage Loans in Maine

What you need to know: 

• Physicians and dentists in Maine can apply for physician mortgage loans that offer up to 100% financing with no PMI.
• Maine physician mortgages have higher maximum lending limits and have interest rates comparable to mortgages that require a 20% down payment.
• An employment contract is often enough to secure financing for physician mortgages.

Maine is a huge draw, even more now than it was in the past. Big northeastern cities with lots of people in them, like New York City and Boston, became less appealing during the pandemic due to curtailed amenities. But Maine offers stunning outdoor scenery, Acadia National Park, the best lobster anywhere, and eclectic, interesting cities like Portland. It’s easy to see why a physician or dentist and their family would want to live there. 

Housing prices in Maine have skyrocketed in recent years. However, since the fed started raising interest rates, this trend has taken a turn. According to the Maine Association of Realtors, home prices in Maine slowed to a conservative 11.21% increase from January 2022 to January 2023, setting the 2023 median sales price at $325,000.

Thankfully, even though housing prices have gone up a lot in recent years, you have a special tool at your disposal to get the loan amount you want with much better terms than most borrowers. I’m talking about the physician mortgage loan.

How do Maine physician mortgage loans work?

Conventional mortgages require a 20% down payment. Other mortgage loans like FHA allow for low down payments; however, they charge PMI (private mortgage insurance), which can increase the cost of your mortgage by as much as 1%.

Jumbo mortgages sometimes offer compelling interest rates, but they cannot allow for as low of a down payment as physician mortgage loans. Jumbo mortgage products will also tend to not give you as favorable treatment in underwriting for things like income history and student loan debt-to-income ratio.

A physician loan is offered by select banks seeking to offer compelling mortgage products to medical doctors and dentists. This helps them further diversify their own loan portfolio to stabilize against economic shocks. Your recession-proof income can literally provide the key to your next home with the doctor mortgage.

If you want to get started, check out the quote form below, or keep reading to see the names of each of the Maine banks offering doctor mortgages.

7 Best Maine Physician Mortgage Loans

If you’re ready to check out your choices for a Maine physician mortgage, look into the different banks we have researched for you below.

1. Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank works with new and mid-career physicians seeking to buy a new residence or refinance their existing mortgage in the New England area. They’ve been around for over 150 years and are one of the largest regional banks in Maine. Berkshire’s Doctor’s Advantage Home Loan allows you to put 5% down on mortgages up to $850,000.

Qualifying professions include physician, dentist, and veterinarian residents (or fellows currently employed in residency of fellowship), practicing physicians (MD, DPM, or DO), practicing dentists (DDS, DMD), oral surgeons, and practicing veterinarians. Practicing doctors must be out of residency/internship/fellowship for less than 10 years. Non-practicing doctors, such as those in academia or research, are not eligible.

Berkshire Bank also offers home equity loans and lines of credit. Eligible properties include single family, condominiums, planned urban development, and non-warrantable condominiums. Private Mortgage insurance is not required and the maximum DTI ratio is 45%.

Financing options include:

• 0% down for up to $1 million
• 5% down for up to $1.25 million
• 10% down for up to $2 million

Berkshire has 30 year fixed and 15 year fixed options, as well as the 5/6 and 7/6 ARM Products.

Reserves are required and the range is 2-6 months of your monthly mortgage payment.

1099 Independent Contractor work for less than 12 months is allowed

Projected income is acceptable for qualifying purposes when a borrower is scheduled to start a new job within 90 days of the loan closing.

Contact: Stephen Morrison

*Mortgage products are provided by Berkshire Bank: Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Berkshire Bank is a Massachusetts chartered bank. All applications must be submitted in writing. All lending products are subject to credit and property approval. Products are not available in all states. Certain conditions and restrictions apply. Refinancing to reduce total monthly payments may lengthen repayment term or increase total interest expense compared with your current situation. Berkshire Bank NMLS 506896. Equal Housing Lender.

2. BMO Bank, N.A.

With BMO Bank, N.A., you can get an affordable home loan with no PMI requirement and flexible debt-to-income underwriting options.

As a licensed medical doctor with MD, DDS, DMD or DO designation, you could qualify even if you have student loan debt, are starting residency soon, and have an employment contract with a start date within 90 days of closing. 

Financing options include:

• 0% down for up to $1 million
• 5% down for up to $1.5 million
• 10% down for up to $2 million

3. Citizens

Citizens offers down payments as low as 5% for as much as $1.5 million. They also offer new construction loans, which can be tough to find, even among physician mortgage lenders. All physicians and dentists can apply.

Citizens offers a variety of mortgage options for their physician home loan, with adjustable rate and fixed rate choices.

4. Huntington Bank

Huntington Bank can help homebuyers with an MD, DO, DDS, DMD or DVM degree. Huntington Bank provides a lot of flexibility with financing options. If you’ve recently finished training or school, all you need to qualify is a letter from your employer and a signed contract to be able to be considered.

Loan choices include:

• 0% down (up to $1 million)
• 5% down (up to $1.25 million)
• 10% down (up to $2 million)

5. KeyBank

KeyBank has generous options for physicians, podiatrists and dentists seeking to buy their next house. You can qualify for this loan regardless of how long or short you’ve been in practice, unlike some other banks that limit their doctor mortgage product to early career professionals only.

KeyBank also offers a maximum loan amount of 3.5 million, the highest of any of the banks offering a Maine doctor mortgage. Student loan borrowers only need two months of reserves to not have their loans affect underwriting decisions, making it much easier to qualify.

Here are the limits for KeyBank’s physician mortgage program in Maine:

• 0% down (up to $750,000)
• 5% down (up to $1 million)
• 10% down (up to $1.5 million)

6. TD Bank

TD Bank offers doctor mortgages to residents, fellows, attending physicians, dental residents, dentists and dental specialists.

We looked at TD when we bought our first home with a physician mortgage. They had the second-best offer of all the loan programs we looked at. The bank that beat them is a southeast U.S. regional company that isn't available in Maine. With this in mind, TD Bank would be a good option to look at.

TD Bank doctor loan options in Maine include:

• Up to 100% financing (up to $1 million)
• Up to 95% financing (up to $1.5 million)
• Up to 89.9% financing (up to $2 million)

Contact: Neil Surgenor

7. U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank has slightly higher down payment requirements than some of the other banks on this list (for example, 10% down for up to $1.25 million), but they make it easy to work with for residents and fellows. You do need a minimum of a 710 credit score for this option. Lawyers are also eligible.

U.S. Bank will use your IDR payment, if you are enrolled in an income-driven plan, to minimize any potential issues that would cause you to not qualify during underwriting.

Financing options include:

• 5% down for up to $1 million
• 10% down for up to $1.5 million
• 15% down for up to $2 million

Is a Maine physician home loan right for you?

If you have student debt you plan to pay down, then a physician mortgage in Maine is a great idea. You can borrow more on the mortgage and itemize your taxes to deduct interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage principal.

The money you would have used for your down payment can go into your student loans, which are less tax-efficient, or into renovating and buying furniture.

From one homeowner to another current or future homeowner, you will have a ton of projects and improvements you want to make once you get the keys.

By using a Maine doctor mortgage, you can hold back some of your cash in a tax-efficient way for other priorities and still build, improve, or buy the home of your dreams.

If you’re ready to get the quote process started, use our form below and we will share more detailed info about how to apply with each lender.