Closing Before You Start Work in Georgia
Program and regulatory figures verified October 7, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Georgia runs on July start dates like everywhere else. This is the feature that lets you be living somewhere before the first paycheque.
What problem this solves
An incoming attending or fellow signs in winter or spring, starts in July, and wants somewhere to live before then. The income supporting the mortgage has not begun.
Agency underwriting works on roughly 90 days between closing and the start of employment, so a March closing against a July start falls outside it. The physician programme extends that to 150 days.
What the contract must show
- The start date of employment, no more than 150 days after the note date.
- Salary or compensation details.
- Compensation covering at least a 12-month period.
An offer letter with a start date and a defined twelve-month compensation figure is the document. One saying compensation is to be determined is not.
The contingency limit
Contingencies may only relate to:
- Your receipt of your medical licence, or
- Normal administrative requirements such as background checks, drug testing and fingerprinting.
A contract contingent on board certification, on credentialling beyond those items, or on a funding or probationary decision needs reviewing before you plan a closing around it. Send us the contract when you get it, not when you are under contract on a house.
★ Why Georgia is simpler than its neighbours on this
In North Carolina the employment contract also decides whether the state's largest incentive is available, because the Primary Care Physicians Initiative requires a physician-owned practice rather than a hospital or health system. In Ohio a contract that itself provides loan repayment can disqualify you from the state programme entirely.
★ Georgia has neither problem. The tax credit turns on your specialty and on practising and residing in one of 118 rural counties. Who employs you is not part of the test.
So in Georgia the contract is a mortgage document and nothing more, which is one fewer thing to get wrong. What the credit does require.
What still has to be true
Credit and income review, property qualification, the student-debt treatment, and cash at closing.
★ Georgia's cash requirement is the lightest of the states we cover on transfer tax: 0.1%, and DOR says the seller is liable. What you will need is the intangible recording tax, recording fees, prepaid items and reserves. The detail.
Why this matters here
Georgia medicine concentrates in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon and Savannah, and those systems hire on an academic calendar. A large share of Georgia physician purchases are spring purchases against a summer start, so the 150-day window is the normal case rather than an edge case.
Send us the contract and we will tell you what it supports. Call (480) 296-6513.
Frequently asked questions
How early can a physician loan close before the start date?
Up to 150 days before the employment start date, on a signed employment contract. Fannie Mae's agency rules work on roughly a 90-day runway, so a spring closing against a July academic start typically falls outside agency guidelines and inside the physician programme's.What does my employment contract need to show for a Georgia physician loan?
The start date of employment, no more than 150 days after the note date, and salary or compensation details covering at least a twelve-month period. Contingencies may only relate to your receipt of your medical licence or to normal administrative requirements such as background checks, drug testing and fingerprinting.Does my employer affect Georgia's rural tax credit?
No, and that makes Georgia simpler than its neighbours. The credit turns on your specialty and on practising and residing in one of 118 rural counties, not on who employs you. In North Carolina the Primary Care Physicians Initiative requires a physician-owned practice, and in Ohio an employment contract providing loan repayment can disqualify you from the state programme.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, visa, or licensure advice. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees, and overlays are set by the lender and change. Georgia's rural tax credits are set by statute and administered by the Georgia Department of Revenue; the Rural Health Care Professional Credit is subject to a $2 million annual aggregate cap allowed on a first come, first served basis, neither credit carries over, and neither can exceed the taxpayer's income tax liability. Nothing here is tax advice; confirm your position with a tax professional and with the Department of Revenue. Rural county designations are set by statute and census data and change. All loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, including credit and income review.