A signed contract and a start date can be enough to close on a house before you have earned a dollar from the job. Physician loan programs allow it routinely. Conventional underwriting generally does not, and that gap is one of the most useful things a physician loan does.
Here is how the rule works and where it breaks.
Why Most Lenders Say No
Standard underwriting wants income you have already received. Pay stubs, W-2s, a verification of employment that describes work you are actually doing. A contract for a job starting in four months is a promise, and a promise is not documented income.
A physician loan is held on the bank’s own books, so the bank can decide a signed physician employment contract is good enough. Most of them have.
That single decision is what lets a resident finishing in June buy a house in April.
How Far Ahead You Can Close
This is the number to ask about, because it is the one that varies most between programs.
Windows in the market generally run from about 60 days before your start date out to 150 days, with 90 days being common. Some lenders will consider dates further out case by case. A few will not do it at all.
Four months versus two months is the difference between buying before you relocate and renting for a season while you look. If your timeline is tight, ask this question first and let the answer narrow your lender list.
What the Contract Has to Say
Underwriters are reading for specific things. Before you submit it, check that yours states:
- A definite start date. “On or about” language causes problems. A real date is better.
- The compensation, in a form that can be annualized. A base salary is easy. Pure production or RVU-based pay is harder and may need extra documentation.
- Signatures from both sides. An unsigned offer letter is not a contract.
- No contingencies you have not met. This is the one that derails the most purchases. Read the next section.
The Contingency Problem
Most physician employment contracts are conditional on something: a state license, board eligibility, DEA registration, credentialing, a background check, sometimes a drug screen.
An underwriter will read those conditions as reasons the job might not happen. Depending on the lender and the condition, they will either want proof the condition is satisfied or they will decline to use the income until it is.
Licensing is the usual culprit. If your license for the new state is still pending, expect questions, and expect some lenders to want it in hand before closing. Start that application as early as your program allows, and keep the confirmation emails.
Income That Is Not a Flat Salary
Guaranteed base salary is the easy case. Everything else needs a conversation.
Signing bonuses are usually treated as one-time money, so they help your cash to close but often do not count as qualifying income.
Production or RVU compensation above a base is frequently excluded until you have a track record, because there is no history to average. If most of your expected pay is variable, tell your lender early, because the number they qualify you on may be much lower than the number in your head.
Call pay, stipends and loan repayment assistance vary by lender. Some count them, some do not.
Partnership track compensation that changes after a year or two is generally underwritten on what you will actually be paid during the first year.
Cash Reserves and the Gap Months
Here is the part that catches people. If you close in April and start work in August, you have four months of mortgage payments before your first attending paycheck.
Some lenders will want to see reserves covering that gap. Others have no reserve requirement at all. This is worth asking about directly, because a program with generous timing but strict reserves can be harder to use than one with a shorter window and no reserve requirement.
Either way, do the arithmetic yourself. Four payments on a $600,000 loan is real money, and it lands during the same months you are paying to move.
If You Are Relocating
Two practical things.
Some physician programs make an explicit allowance for relocation, treating a move for a new position as its own qualifying circumstance. If you are moving states, mention it early.
And check that your lender actually lends in the destination state. Several physician programs are regional, and the loan officer you talked to in your training city may not be able to help you where you are going. That is a five minute question that saves weeks.
The Order to Do This In
Get the contract signed. Start the license application. Ask lenders three questions: how far before my start date will you close, what do you need to see about my contract contingencies, and how many months of reserves do you want. Then shop houses.
Doing it in that order means you find out about a dealbreaker in a phone call rather than five days before closing.
If you want the shortlist done for you, tell us your degree, your training stage, your state and your numbers, and we will match you with the lender whose rules fit your timeline. It takes about two minutes and costs you nothing.
Last verified September 10, 2026. Closing windows and contract requirements vary by lender, and the ranges here reflect terms published or supplied by lenders as of this date. Confirm the specifics with any lender before you rely on them.