Bank of America Doctor Loan Review (2026): 3% Down to $850K, No 0% Option, and the Reserves Most Residents Don’t Have

Bank of America Doctor Loan at a glance

Who qualifies

Footnote 1 sorts applicants into three groups.

• 1.Actively practicing doctors with an MD, DO, DDS, DMD, OD, DPM, or DVM. Optometrists and veterinarians are both on the list, which only Flagstar matches among the lenders we have reviewed.
• 2.Residents and fellows who are currently employed in their programs.
• 3.Medical students and doctors about to start employment, residency, or fellowship within 90 days of closing. This group is limited to salaried employees.

The third group is the notable one. No other lender in this series uses the words “medical students.” Others will close on a residency contract, but Bank of America says outright that a fourth-year who matched in March can apply. The “salaried employees only” condition matters for attendings: a new partner-track physician paid on production, or an independent contractor on a 1099, doesn’t fit this group and would need to be already practicing to qualify.

One exclusion is explicit: “Those employed in research or as professor are not eligible.” A physician-scientist with a lab and a faculty title should read that carefully and ask how a split clinical and academic appointment is treated. KeyBank names researchers and clinical professors as eligible.

There is no limit on years since training. BMO closes at ten years, Truist restricts at ten and fifteen, and TD and Flagstar stop at ten. A physician twenty years into practice is, on the published terms, as eligible here as a new attending.

Down payment tiers and loan limits

Compare that with the field. Truist, BMO, and TD ask 0% to $1 million, 5% to $1.5 million, and about 10% to $2 million. At every loan size Bank of America asks for more: 3% where they ask nothing, 10% where they ask 5%, 15% where they ask 10%.

The cash you actually need

The down payment is the smaller number. Footnote 1 requires PITIA reserves of 4 to 6 months, depending on loan amount. PITIA is your full housing payment: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any association dues. Reserves aren’t spent; they have to be in your accounts and verified when you close.

A PGY-1 rarely has that. An attending two years in often does, and for that borrower the reserve rule costs nothing, because the money stays theirs. It is worth asking which accounts count. Lenders commonly accept retirement balances toward reserves at a discount, and Bank of America’s page doesn’t say.

One inconsistency to flag: the Doctor Loan page says 4 to 6 months, while the bank’s page for real estate professionals describes the same program with 4 to 12 months. Ask which applies at your loan amount.

Closing before you start

Residents and fellows with a job lined up can close up to 90 days before they start. That matches Huntington and BMO. Footnote 2 adds a condition the other two don’t publish: if your employment begins after closing, you must show, on top of the standard reserves, enough verified cash to cover all your debt obligations from closing until your start date, up to 90 more days.

In practice, a graduating student closing on May 1 for a July 1 start needs the 4 to 6 months of reserves and another two months of every payment they owe: the new mortgage, car, credit cards, and any student loan not in deferment. It is a sensible rule, since you will have no paycheck during those weeks. It also raises the bar again for the borrowers least likely to have savings.

Student loans

The page says: “We can often exclude your student debt from your total debt when you apply for a mortgage.” Footnote 3 adds that additional documentation is required to evidence that payments are deferred.

Read together, the exclusion is for deferred loans, and “often” means it is decided case by case. A resident in deferment or forbearance is the clear fit. A resident paying $300 a month on an income-driven plan isn’t in deferment, and the page doesn’t say how that payment is treated. Truist publishes both cases; Bank of America publishes one. Bring a servicer letter showing the deferment end date, and if you are on an income-driven plan, ask directly whether the actual payment is used.

For how this compares with conventional, FHA, and VA rules, see how student loans affect a physician mortgage.

What Bank of America doesn’t publish, and what to ask

• •Mortgage insurance. Every other program we have reviewed says “no PMI” near the top of the page. This one doesn’t mention it. Ask: “Is there mortgage insurance at 3%, 5%, and 10% down? Show me on the loan estimate.”
• •Fixed or adjustable. Not stated for the Doctor Loan. Ask: “Is a 30-year fixed available, and which ARM terms?”
• •What “excellent credit” means. Ask for the minimum score at your tier.
• •DTI ceiling and income-driven payments. Ask: “What is the maximum DTI, and is my IDR payment counted at its actual amount?”
• •Reserve months and eligible accounts. Ask: “How many months at my loan amount, and do retirement accounts count?”
• •States and property types. Neither is listed. Bank of America lends nationally, but the page doesn’t say the Doctor Loan does. Ask about your state, and about condos if you are buying one.
• •Relationship pricing. The Doctor Loan page doesn’t mention a discount. If you hold assets at Bank of America or Merrill, ask whether Preferred Rewards pricing applies to this product.

Rates

Bank of America posts daily rates for its standard mortgages and none for the Doctor Loan, which is priced per borrower. Freddie Mac’s national average for a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage is 6.95% for the week of September 17, 2026. Physician programs typically quote 0.125 to 0.5 points above that benchmark. A program that requires a down payment, reserves, and excellent credit is taking less risk than a 0%-down program, and the quote should reflect it. If Bank of America’s rate isn’t at or below the 0%-down lenders’, the stricter terms aren’t buying you anything.

Where our benchmark comes from: where our rates come from. Current numbers and a ten-year chart: mortgage rates.

Run Bank of America’s 3% tier against a conventional loan

The calculator starts from this week’s Freddie Mac average with the physician loan set to 3% down, Bank of America’s lowest tier. Move the physician down payment to 0% to see what a Truist or BMO quote would look like at the same price, or to 5%, 10%, or 15% for the higher tiers. The physician side assumes no mortgage insurance, which Bank of America hasn’t confirmed on its page; if your loan estimate includes it, the monthly figure will be higher.

Strengths and drawbacks

Strengths

• •Medical students named as eligible, with a 90-day window before a salaried start.
• •No published limit on years since training.
• •Optometrists, podiatrists, and veterinarians on the list with physicians and dentists.
• •Deferred student loans can often be excluded from total debt.
• •The reserve and start-date rules are published, so you know the bar before you apply.

Drawbacks

• •No 0% down, and a higher down payment than competitors at every loan size.
• •4 to 6 months of reserves, more if you close before starting, and “excellent credit.”
• •The page doesn’t say whether mortgage insurance is waived.
• •A Bank of America account is required; researchers and professors are excluded.
• •Rate types, DTI ceiling, states, and property types are unpublished.

Who it’s for, and who should keep looking

• •Attendings more than ten years out who are shut out of BMO, TD, Flagstar, and Truist’s low-down tiers: yes. Quote it against Huntington and KeyBank.
• •Existing Bank of America, Merrill, or Private Bank clients with savings: yes, and ask about relationship pricing.
• •Optometrists and veterinarians: yes, alongside Flagstar (both) and Huntington (DVM).
• •Fourth-year students with family help or savings who want to close before July: possible, and the only program that names you. Count the reserves first.
• •Residents and new attendings with little saved: not here. Truist, BMO, and Huntington publish 0% down to $1 million.
• •Physician-scientists and faculty: excluded if employed in research or as a professor. Quote KeyBank.
• •1099 and production-only physicians who haven’t started yet: the early-close group is salaried employees only.
• •NPs, PAs, CRNAs, and pharmacists: not listed. Flagstar names all four.

How to apply, and what to have ready

• 1.Add up your cash first. Down payment, 4 to 6 months of the full payment, closing costs, and, if you haven’t started work, every debt payment until you do. If the total isn’t there, quote a 0%-down lender instead.
• 2.Call 866.466.0979 (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, Saturday 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET) and ask for the Doctor Loan by name. Put the mortgage-insurance and fixed-rate questions first.
• 3.Open the checking or savings account before closing if you don’t have one. A Merrill or Private Bank account only counts if it existed before you applied.
• 4.Gather the file: license or training verification, a signed contract showing salary and start date, statements for every account you are using for reserves, and a servicer letter showing your student loans are deferred and until when.
• 5.Get a 0%-down quote the same week and compare the rate, the mortgage-insurance line, and the cash required at closing side by side.

Deciding whether a physician loan is right at all: read the physician mortgage guide.

Alternatives to quote alongside Bank of America

• •Truist: 0% down to $1M, student-loan treatment published for both deferred and income-driven loans, and a rate discount for balances held at the bank. 0% and 5% tiers end ten years after training.
• •BMO: 0% down to $1M with fixed or adjustable rates and the same 90-day window, in every state but New York. Closed after ten years in practice.
• •Huntington Bank: 0% down to $1M, $2.5M overall, a 50% DTI ceiling in writing, and no years-out limit. Only ARM terms published.
• •KeyBank: a $3.5M ceiling, no years-out limit, and researchers and clinical professors named as eligible.
• •TD Bank: 0% down to $1M with a fixed rate in writing, on the East Coast, with a TD checking account.
• •Flagstar Bank: 0% down to $1M with no excluded state, and NPs, PAs, CRNAs, pharmacists, and optometrists eligible. ARM only, to $1.5M.

All seven programs are compared side by side on the lender comparison.

Sources

• •Bank of America Doctor Loan (program page and footnotes)
• •Bank of America home loan products for real estate professionals (Doctor Loan section)

Read September 20, 2026. Terms quoted are from the Doctor Loan page and footnotes 1 through 3; the second source is cited only for the differing reserve range. Where this review says “not published” or “not stated,” the Doctor Loan page contains no statement on the point.