Dr. Ajagbe: As I think about this buying versus renting decision, I know a few of my friends … OB-GYN is a four-year program but others such as pediatrics and internal medicine, those are three-year programs and some of them had thought about buying a home to subsequently maybe Airbnb it out later, I’m not sure if you have any other personal or professional advice and opinions on that. And if that is something that the physician more engaged could be used for.
Derks: So the physician mortgage is available to doctors, dentists, residents for primary use and secondary use. We don’t support investment properties at this point in time. But if it is a home that individual is intending to live in, at an extended period of online payday loans Amelia no credit check time, they … that property would be eligible for a physician mortgage.
Dr. Ajagbe: Okay, great. Thank you. I think that that’s just something that’s come up a lot, especially when I’ve had this particular conversation with a lot of friends of mine who are also residents.
Dr. Ajagbe: As we are kind of, you know, really sitting down and let’s say we’ve made a decision to buy, other than hop on Zillow or look for real estate agents as it relates to the physician mortgage, what is like one of the first places for us to start? Is it with an online search? What are some things we should think about? If we’re really looking for the very first place to begin.
Is Laurel Road, is there like a number we can just call and kind of get a brief consultation?
Derks: Sure. So the first thing anyone looking to buy a home should do is talk to a lender, get prequalified, know what you can afford. Ironically, especially with the physician mortgage because of its flexibility, often we find that residents and doctors can borrow more than they think they can. Inversely, sometimes we think we can afford more than we can. And so it’s really important to start with, Hey, what can I afford? And many institutions, particularly Laurel Road, can really enable that insight with just 10 minutes on our online application. And right then and there, through the application, you can learn, Hey, what can I afford? What would be my closing costs and my down payment?
What would be my rate?
So you could really self-serve, with Laurel Road, whereas with some other institutions, it might take a dialogue but that’s clearly the first step for two reasons. One, you want to know what you can afford. So you don’t waste your time, seeing a home that you fall in love with, and then, oh, you can’t buy it. And secondarily in this really tough market, the seller’s market, most real estate agents won’t even let folks in the home, if they’re not pre-qualified or pre-approved, so much less making an offer, they won’t even consider it if there’s not a pre-approval letter. Getting that pre-call preapproval letter really puts you in the buying seat for when you want to buy a home.
Dr. Ajagbe: Wow. That’s actually really good to know. I didn’t even think about it, especially given the kind of housing market we’re in and needing to have some sort of a pre-qualification, per se, I think that that’s an excellent point to really, for those of us looking to buy homes to really start to consider. I think, again, as I think about conversations, I’ve had myself with myself and my significant other, and also with other friends. There’s a lot of kind of talk and conversation around potentially like a housing bust or how the market is kind of a big sellers’ market right now. I have a question for you-is in the next year or maybe two to three years given if, you know, maybe we purchase a house now or maybe want to put that off for a little bit. Do you have any insight on where you think the housing market is really going to go from here?
