Why this site tells Florida physicians to slow down
Program and regulatory figures verified October 5, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Most physician-loan pages are written to make the product sound inevitable. This one is written by the people who have to fund the loan.
Who writes this
Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone is NMLS #173855, an Equal Housing Lender. We originate physician loans and lend across Florida statewide.
Reach us at (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.
★ Why this site opens with a warning
Because Florida is the one state in this round where the honest advice sometimes points away from the product.
Every major Florida metro fell in typical value over the year to 2026-08-31 — Cape Coral 4.4%, Sarasota 3.1%, Naples 2.4% — and every one sells more slowly than the national 53-day benchmark, Naples at 130 days. Taking 100% financing into that is a different decision from taking it into a rising market, and we would rather say so up front than have you work it out two years in.
That does not make the programme wrong. It makes the time horizon the question. The full argument.
And why we publish the average, not the cap
Florida's FRAME programme is widely described as paying "up to $150,000". Florida's own 2025 FRAME Annual Report, published January 2026, reports an average physician payment of $63,821 — about 42% of the cap, a gap of $86,179.
The cap is real and the average is also real, and a physician planning a purchase needs the second one. The numbers.
How figures get on this site
- Primary sources only, with the date they were verified. Programme figures from the Florida Department of Health's FRAME pages and the 2025 Annual Report; loan limits from FHFA; underwriting rules cited to Fannie Mae section numbers and HUD 4000.1; residency counts from the ACGME Data Resource Book.
- Cite or omit. Residency headcounts for individual Florida health systems are not on this site because we could not verify them. Neither is a dollar insurance premium — secondary estimates varied too widely to publish one responsibly.
- No rates, APRs or payment amounts. Pricing is specific to you and the day.
- No programme we cannot actually deliver. Physician programme terms come from the lender's own guide, version 1.1 effective 2026-03-02.
What we do not do
We are lenders. We do not advise on licensure, immigration, employment contracts, tax or the FRAME application itself — that is between you and the Florida Department of Health. We will tell you what your file supports and what it does not.
Frequently asked questions
Who runs this Florida physician loan site?
Mike Certo, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #260555. Cornerstone is NMLS #173855, an Equal Housing Lender, and we lend across Florida statewide.Why does this site warn about buying in Florida?
Because every major Florida metro fell in typical home value year over year as of 2026-08-31, and every one sells more slowly than the national 53-day benchmark. Taking 100% financing into a declining, slow-moving market is a materially different decision from taking it into a rising one, and the time horizon becomes the deciding question.Where do the figures on this site come from?
Primary sources with verification dates: the Florida Department of Health FRAME pages and 2025 FRAME Annual Report, FHFA conforming loan limits, Fannie Mae Selling Guide section numbers, HUD 4000.1 and the ACGME Data Resource Book. Figures that could not be verified are omitted rather than estimated.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or licensure advice. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees, and overlays are set by the lender and change; Florida FRAME award amounts, eligibility and application cycles change too. Confirm your scenario with us and your program administrator. All loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, including credit and income review.