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Program and regulatory figures verified October 9, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Two numbers decide a Tennessee physician file: what the contract supports, and what the student debt does to the ratio. A third thing decides the product, and it is the county.
How to reach us
Call or text Mike at (480) 296-6513. Email mcerto@cfmtg.com. You reach the person who originates the loan.
★ What makes a file answerable
- Your signed employment contract: start date and compensation over at least 12 months.
- Your student loan position: servicer, balances, and whether you are deferred, income-driven or in standard repayment.
- Your target price range and the county. In Tennessee that second part is not a formality. Why
- Whether you are applying for a Tennessee programme, and which.
★★ If you are still in residency, do this first
The Family Medicine Loan Repayment Incentive is open to family medicine residents "starting in their intern year…and remain eligible to apply until they finish residency training."
Up to $40,000 a year for five years. A maximum of $200,000. And no route in once training ends.
★ We are not part of that application and cannot submit it for you. We raise it because a family physician who misses it carries a materially different debt picture for the rest of their career, and that is the debt we would be underwriting. Apply, then call us about houses. The incentive.
★ One thing we will say that a brochure would not
A physician loan is often not the right product.
If you have been in post two years, your student debt is modest and you have 20% down, a conventional loan is usually better and we will tell you so. The portfolio product earns its place when you are buying before the job starts, or when training-era debt is what the ratio cannot absorb. The honest comparison.
★ Tennessee adds one argument most states do not. Here the conforming limit genuinely varies, so on a purchase between $832,750 and $1,029,250 the county decides which products are even available to you.
What we will not quote over email
Rates or payment figures. They move, they depend on the file, and a number sent on Tuesday is wrong by Friday. Current terms against your actual contract, on a call.
★ And what is outside our lane
We are the lender. We do not administer TSLRP or the family medicine incentive, submit or score applications, or advise on them. The Department of Health and TNAFP do that.
No tax advice on what an award means on your return, and no legal advice. We publish Tennessee's recordation tax rates because the Department of Revenue publishes them; we do not tell you who should pay them, because that is a contract question. The rates.
Useful pages first
- The $200,000, and the deadline attached to it.
- TSLRP, and the renewals most coverage misses.
- The 14 counties worth $196,500 more.
- The whole thing in one read.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. Equal Housing Lender. This is not a commitment to lend. Loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a physician loan in Tennessee?
Contact the lender with four things: your signed employment contract showing a start date and compensation over at least twelve months, your student loan position including servicer and status, your target price range and county, and whether you are applying for a Tennessee loan repayment programme. Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, at Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 can be reached at (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.Why does the county matter on a Tennessee physician mortgage?
Because the conforming loan limit varies within the state. Fourteen counties carry a 2026 one-unit limit of $1,029,250 and the other eighty-one carry $832,750. On a purchase between those two figures the county decides which loan products are available.Can you help with my Tennessee loan repayment application?
No. The Tennessee State Loan Repayment Program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Health and the Family Medicine Loan Repayment Incentive runs through the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians. They decide eligibility, scoring and awards. We track the published terms because they change the debt behind a physician's file, but we cannot submit or advise on an application.Will you tell me if a physician loan is the wrong product for me?
Yes. An established physician with modest student debt and twenty percent down is usually better served by a conventional loan, and we will say so. The portfolio product earns its place when you are buying before employment begins, or when training-era debt is what the ratio cannot absorb.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about physician mortgage financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. The Tennessee State Loan Repayment Program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Health and the Family Medicine Loan Repayment Incentive through the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, neither by Cornerstone; their terms, award amounts and application cycles are set by those bodies and change. Figures here carry the date we verified them against the programmes' own published materials. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees and overlays are set by the lender and change. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.