Talk to the Lender
Program and regulatory figures verified October 9, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
Two numbers decide a Minnesota physician file. A third question decides whether a loan forgiveness award is even available to you, and it turns on an address.
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.
- ★ The practice address, not just the city. Minnesota's programmes turn on the site.
- ★★ Which loans, if any, are Parent PLUS. Minnesota's programmes will not forgive those, and we will still count the payment.
★★ The question to ask someone else first
Before you compare two job offers on money, ask the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care whether each practice site qualifies.
Minnesota pays $33,000 a year to a maximum of $132,000, under a rural programme that excludes the seven-county metro and the cities of Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester and St. Cloud, and an urban programme that turns on federal shortage-area designation at the specific site.
★ So two posts an hour apart can differ by six figures, and neither the city name nor your specialty settles it. ORHPC: 651-201-3838, health.loanforgiveness@state.mn.us. The geography rule.
★ We are not part of that application and cannot submit it. We raise it because it changes the debt we would be underwriting, and because the cycle runs once a year.
★ One thing we will say that a brochure would not
In Minnesota, a physician loan is often not the right product.
Every county sits at the $832,750 conforming limit, which is more than twice the typical value in the state's dearest metro, so the "borrow more" argument does not exist here at all. If you are already in post with pay stubs, your student debt is manageable and you have 20% down, conventional financing is usually better and we will tell you so.
The portfolio product earns its place on timing, buying before the job starts, and on debt treatment. The honest comparison.
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. The loan forgiveness programmes are not administered by Cornerstone; ORHPC at the Minnesota Department of Health runs them, decides selection, and depends on legislative appropriation.
No tax advice. No legal advice on §144.1501 or the tax statutes, which is why we quote them rather than interpret them. And no view on whether the 1 January 2028 Hennepin and Ramsey tax sunset gets extended.
Useful pages first
- ★★ The five cities that are not rural, read this before anything else.
- $33,000 a year, and the hours rules.
- Which loans qualify, and which do not.
- 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 Minnesota?
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, the practice address, and which loans if any are Parent PLUS. Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, at Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 can be reached at (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.Why does my practice address matter for a Minnesota physician mortgage?
Because Minnesota's loan forgiveness programmes turn on the site rather than the city or the specialty. The rural programme excludes the seven-county metropolitan area and the cities of Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester and St. Cloud, while the urban programme turns on federal shortage-area designation at the specific address. Two posts an hour apart can differ by up to $132,000.Can you help with my Minnesota loan forgiveness application?
No. The programmes are administered by the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Minnesota Department of Health, which decides eligibility and selection, and whose payments depend on legislative appropriation. 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. Every Minnesota county carries the same $832,750 conforming limit, more than twice the typical value in the state's most expensive metro, so the borrow-more argument does not exist here. An established physician with pay stubs, manageable student debt and twenty percent down is usually better served by a conventional loan.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 Minnesota Rural and Urban Physician Loan Forgiveness Programs are administered by the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Minnesota Department of Health, not by Cornerstone; their terms, award amounts, eligibility and application cycles are set by that office and change, and payments are subject to funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature. Minnesota Statutes quoted here are reproduced so you can take them to your own attorney. Figures carry the date we verified them against primary sources. 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.