BOK Financial finances 100% of the purchase up to $2,000,000 with a 720 credit score, up to $1,500,000 with a 700 score, and up to $2,250,000 at 85% financing. There is no mortgage insurance, no ten year window after training, pre-approval runs on a soft credit pull, and the program is available in all 50 states.
Two things make this program unusual. The first is that your credit score, not your loan size, sets how much you can borrow with nothing down. The second is that there is no cutoff for how long ago you finished training, which quietly makes this one of the few physician programs an attending fifteen or twenty years into practice can still use.
BOK Financial Physician Mortgage at a Glance
| Maximum loan amount | $2,250,000 |
| Lowest down payment | $0, up to a $2,000,000 loan with a 720 score |
| Minimum credit score | 680, with the tier you qualify for rising as the score rises |
| Mortgage insurance | None |
| Maximum debt to income | 50% with at least 5% down, 45% below that |
| Deferred student loans | Excluded from debt to income if deferred more than 12 months past closing |
| Years past training | No limit |
| Where it lends | All 50 states |
| Employment contract | Close up to 150 days before the job starts |
| Pre-approval credit check | Soft credit check, no score impact |
| Rate options | 15, 20, 25 and 30 year fixed, plus 5, 7 and 10 year adjustable rate options |
What the Program Is Actually Called
BOK Financial lends through BOKF, NA. If you call and ask for the physician loan, you may get a pause, because the retail mortgage pages list conventional, FHA, VA and jumbo products and not much else. The physician program is documented as the Advanced Medical Professional loan, usually shortened to AMP.
Ask for it by that name and the conversation gets shorter. This is a small thing that wastes a surprising amount of borrower time.
Down Payment Tiers and Loan Limits
Most physician programs step the down payment up as the loan gets bigger and leave credit score as a single pass or fail threshold. This one runs both levers at once.
| Financing | Down payment | Maximum loan | Minimum credit score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | $0 | $2,000,000 | 720 |
| 100% | $0 | $1,500,000 | 700 |
| 95% | 5% | $2,000,000 | 680 |
| 85% | 15% | $2,250,000 | 700 |
Read the top two rows together, because that is where the real decision lives. Twenty points of credit score is the difference between borrowing $1,500,000 with nothing down and borrowing $2,000,000 with nothing down. On the 85% tier, 15% down at the $2,250,000 ceiling means roughly $397,100 of cash on a purchase price near $2,647,000.
At the 95% tier, 5% down at the $2,000,000 ceiling is about $105,300 on a purchase price near $2,105,000.
For scale, the 2026 conforming loan limit on a one-unit property is $832,750, rising to $1,249,125 in high-cost counties (Federal Housing Finance Agency, November 2025). Every tier above sits well beyond that, which is why this is a portfolio product rather than something sold to an agency.
Why Your Credit Score Matters More Here Than Usual
If you are sitting at 710 and planning to borrow more than $1,500,000 with nothing down, ten points of score is worth $500,000 of borrowing capacity. That is an unusual position to be in, and it is worth doing something about before you apply rather than after.
The usual levers still apply. Pay down revolving balances so your utilization is low on the statement date, not just after you pay the bill. Do not close old cards, since length of history and total available credit both help you. Do not open a new account in the months before you apply. If there is an error on a report, dispute it early, because corrections take weeks and closings do not wait.
None of that is exotic advice, but the payoff here is larger than usual because of how the tiers are built.
Which Degrees Qualify
The eligible degree list is wider than most physician programs run:
- MD and DO
- DDS and DMD
- Doctor of Ophthalmology
- Doctor of Psychiatry
- PharmD
- DVM and VMD
- DPM
- CRNA holding a DNAP or DNP
Three of those are worth flagging. Pharmacists are frequently excluded outright. Podiatrists and veterinarians are treated as edge cases by a lot of lenders. And nurse anesthetists holding a doctoral nursing degree are named directly, which is rare enough that most CRNAs assume they are shut out of physician mortgages entirely.
Optometrists are not on the list. If your degree is not named, it is not a program you can talk your way into, and that is worth knowing before you spend two weeks on an application.
Residents, Fellows and Interns, With No Ten Year Window
Residents, fellows and interns are eligible, and so are practicing physicians with no stated limit on how long ago training ended.
That second half is the part people miss. Most physician mortgage programs carry a window, commonly ten years from the completion of residency or fellowship, after which you are simply treated as a conventional borrower. That cutoff catches a lot of physicians at exactly the point where they are buying a second or third home and would still benefit from skipping mortgage insurance on a larger loan.
With no window, an attending eighteen years out is evaluated on the same program terms as one who matched last year. If you have been told before that you aged out of physician loan pricing, this is a program worth a second look.
How Student Loans Are Counted
Student loans deferred more than 12 months past the closing date are left out of the debt-to-income calculation entirely.
Read that carefully, because the wording does real work. The deferment has to extend more than twelve months beyond your closing date, not twelve months from today. And deferment is not the same thing as a low payment. If you are in an income-driven repayment plan making a $210 monthly payment, you are not deferred, and that $210 counts.
For context on why this matters, the median education debt for a medical school graduate who borrowed is about $205,000 (AAMC, 2024 graduates). A conventional loan would count roughly 0.5% to 1% of a deferred balance as a phantom monthly payment, which on $205,000 is $1,025 to $2,050 of debt service against your ratios that you are not actually paying. Removing it is often the difference between an approval and a decline for someone still in training.
Check your actual deferment end date before you count on this. We walk through how different lenders handle it in our guide to physician mortgages and student loans.
The DTI Ceiling Moves With Your Down Payment
Maximum debt-to-income is 50% when you put at least 5% down, and 45% when you put down less than that.
This is a quiet trade that catches people. The zero down tiers are the ones that sound most attractive, and they are also the ones with the tighter ratio. If your ratios are snug, finding 5% changes the ceiling you are measured against by five full points, which on a resident income can be worth more than the down payment itself.
Five points of DTI on a $9,000 monthly gross income is $450 a month of additional room. At current rates that is roughly $70,000 to $80,000 of additional purchase price. Worth modeling both ways before you decide that zero down is automatically the better structure.
Where the Program Is Available
All 50 states, subject to credit approval, credit score and loan-to-value requirements.
That is genuinely unusual. A large share of physician mortgage programs are regional, tied to a bank’s branch footprint, which means the single most common reason a good program does not work for a borrower is geography. This one does not have that problem. If you are matching into a state where the regional physician lenders do not operate, a national program is worth knowing about.
Closing Up to 150 Days Before You Start
You can close on a signed employment contract up to 150 days before your start date, and further out than that is considered case by case.
Most programs stop at 60 or 90 days. The practical difference is enormous during Match and fellowship transitions, when you are trying to buy in a city you will not be paid in for another four months. A 150 day runway means you can close in March for a July start and move on your own schedule rather than house hunting during your last month of a rotation.
You will generally still need the executed contract or offer letter with your start date, compensation and any signing bonus spelled out. Our guide to buying with an employment contract covers what underwriting looks for.
A Pre-Approval That Does Not Touch Your Credit
Pre-approval runs on a soft credit pull, which does not affect your score.
This is more useful than it sounds when you are shopping several lenders. A soft credit check, the kind that does not affect your score, lets you find out where you actually stand on the table above before committing to a full application, which matters a great deal on a program where a twenty point score difference changes your borrowing capacity by half a million dollars.
It also means you can get a real answer early in a Match cycle without spending inquiries you may want later.
No Mortgage Insurance
There is no private mortgage insurance on this program at any financing level, including the zero down tiers.
That is possible because the bank keeps this loan on its own books instead of selling it to an investor. The bank keeps it on its own balance sheet instead of selling it to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, so it sets its own rules on down payment, insurance and how student debt is counted. It is also why no two physician programs look alike.
Mortgage insurance is where the money is. On a conventional loan with less than 20% down, PMI generally runs between 0.46% and 1.50% of the loan amount per year, driven mostly by credit score and down payment size (Urban Institute). On a $900,000 loan that is roughly $345 to $1,125 a month. Over the four or five years a physician typically holds a first home after training, that is somewhere between $17,000 and $67,000 that buys you nothing.
We compare the structures side by side in our guide to zero down physician mortgages.
Our physician mortgage payment calculator shows the same house on both loans, so you can see the monthly difference on your own numbers.
Co-Borrowers, Credit History and What You Can Buy
Credit history. At least one borrower needs a credit score with a minimum 24 month history. A short credit history is the quiet sticking point for international medical graduates and for anyone who has never had a credit card, and 24 months is a shorter runway than many lenders ask for.
Non-occupant co-borrowers. A co-borrower who will not live in the home is allowed, and their income can make up as much as 50% of total qualifying income. That is a meaningful ceiling. A parent or spouse who is not moving in can cover half the qualifying income, which opens the program up to situations most physician loans will not entertain at all.
Property. Primary residence only. Purchases and rate and term refinances are eligible, with no cash out. Condominiums are eligible, though individual project approval requirements are not spelled out publicly, so confirm your specific building early. Condo project review is the single most common late stage failure on physician loans, and finding out in week five is expensive.
Rate Options and the Deposit Discount
Fixed rate terms are available at 15, 20, 25 and 30 years. Adjustable rate options come in 5, 7 and 10 year versions.
The 20 and 25 year fixed terms are worth a look and are often not offered at all. If you are an attending who wants to be mortgage free before your kids reach college but cannot stomach a 15 year payment, a 25 year fixed splits the difference in a way most lenders will not. We cover the decision in our guide to fixed versus adjustable physician mortgages.
Separately, program materials have described a 0.125% interest rate reduction for borrowers who hold a checking account with the bank and make mortgage payments by automatic transfer. An eighth of a point is real money over thirty years and it costs you nothing but moving where your paycheck lands. Ask whether it applies to you and make sure it is reflected in the rate you are quoted rather than mentioned once and forgotten.
There is also specialty underwriting for 1099 and contract employees, which matters if you are joining a practice as a contractor rather than a W2 employee. That is a common structure in emergency medicine, anesthesia and locums work, and it is a common reason an application stalls elsewhere.
What Zero Down Still Costs at Closing
Zero down is not zero cash, and this is the most common surprise on any physician loan.
Average closing costs run about $4,528 including recording fees and transfer taxes, or $2,993 without them, averaging 1.04% of the sale price nationally. The spread between states is wide: Delaware averages 3.06% and South Dakota 0.39% (LodeStar, April 2026, based on 2025 data). Those figures exclude lender fees and prepaid items like your first year of homeowners insurance and the property tax escrow, which are frequently the larger number.
Because this program lends in all 50 states, that state spread is something you can actually plan around. Budget for earnest money, the appraisal, the inspection, closing costs, prepaids and the escrow account even when the down payment is zero. We lay out the full list in our guide to physician mortgage closing costs.
Common Questions About the BOK Financial Physician Loan
How much can you borrow with the BOK Financial physician loan?
Up to $2,250,000 at 85% financing. The zero down tiers run to $2,000,000 with a 720 credit score and $1,500,000 with a 700 score, and 95% financing runs to $2,000,000 with a 680 score.
Does the program require mortgage insurance?
No. There is no private mortgage insurance at any financing level, including the zero down tiers, because the loan is held in portfolio rather than sold to an agency.
What credit score do you need?
680 is the floor, which gets you 95% financing up to $2,000,000. A 700 score opens zero down to $1,500,000 and 85% financing to $2,250,000. A 720 score opens zero down to $2,000,000.
How are student loans treated?
Student loans deferred more than 12 months past your closing date are excluded from the debt-to-income calculation. Loans in income-driven repayment are not deferred, so those payments count.
Which states does BOK Financial lend in?
All 50 states, subject to credit approval, credit score and loan-to-value requirements. That is unusual for a physician program, most of which are tied to a bank branch footprint.
Can residents, fellows and interns qualify?
Yes. All three are eligible, as are practicing physicians. Non-occupant co-borrowers are also allowed and can supply up to 50% of total qualifying income.
Is there a limit on how long after training you can use it?
No. There is no ten year window or any other cutoff tied to when you finished residency or fellowship, which is unusual and makes it available to physicians well into practice.
How early can you close before starting a new job?
Up to 150 days before your start date on a signed employment contract, with longer timelines considered case by case. Most programs stop at 60 or 90 days.
Is BOK Financial the Right Fit for You
This is a strong fit if you are buying outside the footprint of a regional physician lender, if you are more than ten years past training and have been told you no longer qualify for physician pricing, if you hold a PharmD, DPM, DVM or a doctoral nursing degree, if you need a long runway between closing and your start date, or if you have a non-occupant co-borrower helping you qualify.
It is a weaker fit if your credit score is below 700 and you want nothing down, since 680 only reaches the 95% tier. It is not an option if you are buying an investment property or a second home, or if you need cash out on a refinance.
One thing this page cannot tell you is the rate. No bank publishes physician loan pricing, because it is quoted per borrower, so the only honest number is the one you are given.
If you want us to check whether this program fits your degree, your state and your loan size, answer eight questions and we will tell you which lender’s program actually covers your situation. It takes about two minutes and costs you nothing.
Conforming loan limits from the FHFA. PMI cost range from the Urban Institute. Median education debt from the AAMC. Closing cost averages from LodeStar. Lender programs change without notice, so confirm current terms before relying on them.