Most physician mortgage marketing is built around a picture of a single-family home with a yard. That's not an accident. Single-family detached homes are where these loan programs work best — lowest rate, highest loan-to-value, simplest underwriting. Once you start shopping condos, townhouses, or anything more complicated, the math quietly changes, and the deal you saw on the rate sheet may not be the deal you actually get.
For doctors, dentists, and pharmacists buying in dense metros — Boston, Miami, DC, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, NYC — that gap matters. A first-year attending in a condo-heavy market can do everything right and still be surprised at closing. This piece walks through what changes when the property type isn't a standard single-family home, and what to ask each lender up front.
The four buckets lenders care about
Physician programs generally sort properties into four buckets, each with its own rules.
Single-family detached. Best pricing, highest LTV (often 100% up to a program cap), simplest appraisal. This is the program as advertised.
Townhouses (fee-simple, no condo association). Almost always treated like single-family. If you own the land under your unit and pay no condo dues, the lender treats it the same as a detached home in most physician programs.
Warrantable condos. Allowed by most physician programs, sometimes at par with single-family pricing, but several lenders now add a small rate adjuster (around 0.125%) and tighten LTV by 5%–10%. The building itself has to clear a "warrantability" review — owner-occupancy ratio, reserves, no active litigation, no single owner controlling too many units, adequate master insurance. Your unit can be perfect; the building can still kill the loan.
Non-warrantable condos. Some physician programs still allow these, but typically capped at 90% LTV (so 10% down minimum) and at higher rates. If a lender says "we do non-warrantable," ask exactly what they mean — some allow only one or two specific deficiencies, others go further.
Why warrantability fails
The most common reasons a building falls out of warrantability in 2026:
- Insurance shortfalls. HOA insurance premiums have run wild. Some associations have cut coverage to keep dues down, and that's an underwriting fail.
- Low reserves. Lenders typically want at least 10% of the operating budget going to reserves. A lot of older buildings don't.
- Active or pending special assessments. A $30,000 per-unit assessment for a roof or facade repair will often push a building out of warrantability until it's resolved.
- Owner-occupancy below 50%. Buildings dominated by short-term rentals or investor-owned units commonly fail.
- Litigation. Any pending lawsuit involving the association — even one the HOA filed itself — can be disqualifying.
You won't know until the lender orders the condo questionnaire from the HOA, which usually happens after you're already under contract. That timing is part of why condo deals fall apart in the last two weeks before closing.
HOA dues are part of your DTI — and they're rising fast
Even if everything passes warrantability, the HOA dues count as housing expense for debt-to-income purposes. In 2026, that's not a small number:
- Florida condos average $500–$800/mo, with parts of Miami-Dade approaching $900/mo.
- Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro: $400–$500+ in newer mid-rises.
- Premium urban high-rises across the country routinely run $700–$1,500/mo.
A $700/mo HOA can quietly shave $80,000 to $100,000 off the price a physician qualifies for, compared to a single-family home with no HOA but the same monthly mortgage payment. If you're shopping right at the edge of your DTI ceiling, the HOA number matters as much as the price.
Industry forecasts call for another 8% homeowners insurance increase in 2026 and again in 2027, with HOAs passing through 10%–20% dues hikes. Underwriters know this. Some are now asking for the most recent HOA budget and a statement of any pending dues increase before clearing to close.
What to ask before you make an offer
Three questions, in writing, to every lender you're shopping:
- Is this property type at par with single-family on your physician program? If not, what's the rate adjuster and the LTV cap?
- Do you require a full or limited condo questionnaire, and how long does that typically take in this metro? This sets your timeline expectation.
- Are there any deal-breakers you can flag from the listing or county records before I go under contract? Many loan officers will quickly check owner-occupancy, recent assessments, and litigation if asked.
And one question for the listing agent or HOA before you write the offer:
- Is there a current or anticipated special assessment, and what are the building's reserves as a percentage of the operating budget?
You don't need to memorize warrantability rules. You do need to know that the property type is part of the loan, not separate from it. The physician mortgage is a powerful tool for the right property — and a slow, expensive headache for the wrong one. Ten minutes of due diligence before you make an offer is the difference.
MedPharmaConnect is an educational resource, not a lender. Always verify specific terms, rates, and eligibility with licensed mortgage professionals.