Home Loan Programs

August 2026 Update: UCOP has advised campuses that the next systemwide Mortgage Origination Program (MOP) funding allocation is now expected in January 2027 (rather than this summer). As a result, UCSF will continue to pause regular new MOP nominations until additional funding is received.

The January allocation is expected to coincide with UCOP’s implementation of the new more robust MOP funding model and MOP mortgage product. Details regarding these updates will be posted here as soon as they are available.

The Mortgage Origination Program (MOP) is an additional incentive available to the schools to support specific recruitment needs by offering to assist qualifying new faculty to purchase a first home near campus using a below-market rate mortgage funded by the University. Funding for the MOP is through an allocation from UCOP, and campuses are expected to limit offers of this incentive within the funding allocated. The priority for this recruitment assistance is junior faculty, and eligibility is restricted to new recruits into a Professor Ladder Rank, Professor In Residence, or Professor of Clinical X title at the Assistant rank who do not currently own or have owned in the past 12 months a primary residence near campus (defined as San Francisco or one of the four adjacent counties).

UCSF has currently exceeded the allocation available to fund new Mortgage Origination Program (MOP) loans and cannot accept new nominations for Program support until the next allocation of funding, expected January 2027.

Candidates have three years from the effective date of their appointment to request a nomination for a MOP allocation reservation and Program participation, and once activated will have one year to use their allocation reservation to fund a home purchase. Those recruited within the pause in nominations will have their eligibility window extended (see the grandfathering provision below).

For eligible candidates who are ready to buy and would like to initiate their nomination as soon as possible, they can request of their department that they submit their nomination now to the dean’s office and they will be added to their wait list to be activated as soon as funding is available. Wait lists are managed within the dean’s office of each school.

As current obligations are released and funds become available within the current allocation, those on the wait list can be submitted before the next round of funding expected early 2027. Recently the campus was able to transition the majority of those on the wait lists into active nominations.

For mission-critical recruitment actions which require immediate activation, or for essential recruitments at the Associate or Full rank, departments have the option to fund a home loan program from their own budgets as available (and should indicate such on the MOP/SHLP Allocation Request Form).

Concurrently, the campus is working to partner with local lenders to expand external home loan programs for UCSF faculty independent of funding availability for the Mortgage Origination Program. Clinical faculty may be able to take advantage of “doctor loans” offered by some lenders. BMO offers a Physicians’ Mortgage Program with benefits similar to the MOP with a discounted rate below their standard mortgage products. Steve Johnson is the BMO program specialist for UCSF faculty. Golden1 Credit Union with offices on the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses also offers discounted home loans for some UCSF faculty positions. Julie Shumate is Golden1’s home loan advisor for UCSF faculty.

Grandfathering provision:

Recently recruited candidates with home loan program support in their offer letter and an effective appointment date between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2025 will remain eligible for nomination until December 31, 2027 (regardless of rank).
Those with appointment dates on or after July 1, 2025 will be eligible for nomination for three years from their effective date (limited to the Assistant rank).
Once an allocation has been reserved, all participants will have one year to utilize the reservation for a home purchase.

What Faculty Need to Know

MOP FAQ

MOP Summary

Current program loan maximum: $1.5 million.
Minimum program rate: 3.25% variable.
The current Standard MOP rate is determined quarterly, and is published on the home page of the Office of Loan Programs.

The Mortgage Origination Program is a pre-approval program and candidates must have a pre-approval certificate before placing offers if they would like to utilize University financing.

Eligibility for nomination to the Program is restricted to new full-time recruits into a Ladder Rank, In Residence, or Clinical X title at the Assistant rank who do not, and have not in the past 12 months, owned a primary residence near campus (defined as San Francisco or one of the four adjacent counties).
Deans may offer MOP support for essential recruitments at the Associate rank by exception based on recruitment priorities.
Adjunct and Health Sciences Clinical Professors are not eligible for this program; however, the chancellor has the authority to offer exceptional MOP participation to essential recruits into a Health Sciences Clinical Professor title if the funding is provided by UCSF Health.
Schools and departments may apply their own funds to offer Mortgage Origination Program support for the recruitment of Ladder Rank, In Residence, or Clinical X titles at the Associate and Full ranks. Such primary loans will have all the same criteria as a Standard MOP loan but will be funded using the Supplemental Home Loan Program (SHLP) instrument in order to accommodate the campus financing source. While in the form of a SHLP, the loan will be in the first position.
Eligibility requires that candidates not already own nor have owned in the past 12 months a primary residence in the Bay Area.
Faculty may participate in the MOP program only once (unless they take a new appointment at a different UC campus).
The home loan program cannot be used for refinancing.
MOP loans must be used to purchase primary places of residence which are single family dwellings (house or condominium). They cannot be used for second homes, income-generating property, duplexes, or TICs. No funds may be taken out in borrower equity or used for renovations or construction.
MOP loan payments are made via payroll deduction.

The Mortgage Origination Program provides first deed of trust variable rate loans with up to a 30-year term; not to exceed a loan-to-value ratio of 90% or a maximum income-debt ratio of 48%. The minimum Standard Rate under the program is 3.25%. There is also a 5/1 MOP by which candidates may lock in a (usually higher) fixed rate for the first five years, after which the loan converts to the Standard Rate (variable).

How much can I borrow? What can I afford?
You can estimate qualifying loan amounts, monthly payments, taxes, and closing costs using the MOP Loan Calculator.

How long does this take? What are the steps in the process?
Home Loan Program Steps-Appointment Pending
Home Loan Program Steps-Appointment Final

Comprehensive overview and next steps:
For recruits with an appointment pending approval.
For newly recruited faculty who have begun their appointment.
The Office of Loan Programs (UCOP)

Understanding the MOP Rate

MOP loans have a variable rate, but it is lower than typical variable rate mortgages found in the market and does not fluctuate like rates do at lending institutions. Bank lending rates are based on a variety of indices and factors, none of which apply to the MOP rate.

The UC Regents fund the Mortgage Origination Program by an allocation from the University of California Short Term Investment Pool (STIP); these funds are invested in faculty mortgages rather than in the pool. As such, the MOP rate is indexed to the income rate of the Short Term Investment Pool. Under this structure, the MOP rate is lower than commercial lending rates and is not subject to the same market conditions.

There are two considerations in determining the MOP rate: the Calculated Rate and the Program Rate. The Calculated Rate is the four-quarter average of the STIP rate plus 0.25% servicing fee. To avoid IRS imputed income rules and to keep the program solvent, the program also has minimum rate. The minimum program rate was initially set at 3.0%. was briefly adjusted to 2.75%, and was ultimately set to the current Minimum Program Rate of 3.25%.

Each quarter the Office of Loan Programs issues the effective Program Rate, which is the higher of the Calculated Rate or the Minimum Program Rate.

The calculated MOP rate is determined quarterly and is published by the Office of Loan Programs here.

Active MOP loan rates are only adjusted once annually on the anniversary of the loan, and the MOP rate is prohibited from being adjusted (either up or down) by more than 1.0% at any given adjustment time, and feature a lifetime cap of 10% over the initial rate.

Administrator Forms & Procedures

Schools are expected to limit their nominations for Mortgage Origination Program support and allocation reservations to the funds remaining in the allocation. Nominations are approved for submission by the deans’ offices based on the recruitment priorities of the school.

Department managers may request a MOP allocation reservation and participation in the program for eligible faculty within the first three years of an appointment into a Ladder Rank, In Residence, or Clinical X title by completing the MOP/SHLP Allocation Request Form, affixing the signature of the chair, and submitting it to the Director of Academic Affairs in the appropriate dean’s office with a copy of the fully-executed offer letter. The faculty candidate should not interact with this form.

The following information is to facilitate department managers and academic personnel representatives in requesting faculty participation in the home loan program.

MOP FAQ
MOP Summary
The MOP/SHLP Allocation Request Form
MOP/SHLP Allocation Request Form for Health Sciences Clinical Professor recruitments. (Requires chancellor’s approval, and funding must be provided by UCSF Health.)
- OLP-84 Approval for Non-Eligible Title
UCSF-Specific Requirements and Procedures for the MOP
UCSF-Specific Requirements and Procedures for the SHLP
The Every Expectation Letter (For requesting participation in the home loan program before a candidate’s academic appointment is fully approved.)
Steps in the Process
- Home Loan Program Steps-Appointment Pending
- Home Loan Program Steps-Appointment Final
The MOP Process and HR

Detailed Program Resources

The following are links to more detailed resources governing the University of California Mortgage Origination Program. These pages and documents are provided by the Office of Loan Programs (OLP) at the Office of the President (UCOP). Please note that each campus has its own restrictions and procedures regarding the program.

The Mortgage Origination Program home page
Basic MOP Loan Information
Current MOP Rate
Overview of the Loan Process
Frequently Asked Questions (for new borrowers)
Frequently Asked Questions (for existing borrowers)
MOP Rate Comparison Chart
Historic MOP Rates
Consumer Information

The 5/1 Mortgage Origination Program (5/1 MOP)

Real Estate Agents

To avoid conflicts of interest, the University of California does not recommend nor endorse individual real estate agents. Individual faculty, however, are free to make recommendations regarding their experiences in the home-buying market and may recommend (or not) specific agents who were successful in assisting them with a home purchase using UC Mortgage Origination Program (MOP) financing.

The following real estate agents have been personally recommended by faculty who have closed on a MOP home purchase in the past few years. The University of California and UCSF make no endorsement nor attestation regarding these agents, nor is the University responsible for their conduct should you engage them. This list is provided as an informational resource only as it may assist new or relocating faculty to identify a real estate agent experienced with the Mortgage Origination Program who satisfies their individual needs and preferences. It is important to review potential agents for yourself and decide who best suits your style, location, experience, and other needs.

Real Estate Agents
Bryce Adams The Front Steps [email protected] 415-497-6153	C.M. Foo C.M. Foo [email protected] 415-706-6550	Simon Kiang Simon Kiang (Fremont) [email protected] 510-938-1898
Meryl Bennan Meryl Real Estate [email protected] 415-637-7059	Gabriella Fracchia Compass [email protected] 415-794-8639	Petra Langer Compass [email protected] 415-407-6895
Mike Bohnert The Bohnert Group [email protected] 650-504-2378	Barbara Stein Friedman BarbaraSF.com 415-298-8958	Lauren Neuschel Krishnan Team [email protected] 415-371-9869
Jodi Campion Compass (Burlingame) [email protected] 650-430-4556	Julie Gardner Julie Gardner (Piedmont) [email protected] 510-326-0840	Brian Rochford Rochford Real Estate (East Bay) [email protected] 925-285-0439
Ben and Miriam Chirko Miriam Chirko [email protected] 650-740-3593	Kaitlin Gilbert Carey Hagglund Condy (Marin) [email protected] 415-342-2763	Ned Rote Compass [email protected] 917-817-4775
Carey Condy Carey Hagglund Condy (Marin) [email protected] 415-302-2986	Sherry Gray City Real Estate [email protected] 415-656-9825	Becky Sanchez Rivet [email protected] 650-823-7936
Serena Conti Serena Conti [email protected] 650-619-8398	Jeannie Grant Grant Properties [email protected] 415-215-7146	Houda Tanverakul Houda Design Realty [email protected] 415-794-3461
Jeremy Davidson Davidson Group [email protected] 415-717-4103	Judson Gregory JudsonGregory.com (San Francisco) [email protected] 415-722-5515	Haley Tone Vanguard [email protected] 415-302-3455
Joshua Deitch Joshua Deitch (Marin) [email protected] 415-572-5433	Alex Hachiya Sotheby’s 415-314-6690	Lotte Toftdahl Lotte and Sarah (Marin) [email protected] 415-412-7471
Ryan Fay Mosaik Real Estate [email protected] 415-412-9649	Tiffany Hickenbottom Compass [email protected] 415-933-7001	Suki Tsang Chancere [email protected] 415-860-9668
Katie Fones Compass Nob Hill [email protected] 415-815-8843	Chris Jacobson Chris Jacobson (Solano County) [email protected] 707-805-4014	Andrew Ulmer The Gunderman Group (Alameda, Berkeley) [email protected] 415-225 4343

Tips for Finding a Real Estate Agent

There are well over 4,500 realtors covering San Francisco listed on sfrealtors.com alone, and there are many other resources and reference sources. Realtor.com offers these descriptions of the terms for real estate sales professionals:

A real estate agent is anyone who has earned a real estate license, whether that license is as a sales professional, an associate broker, or a broker.
A realtor is a real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors, which means that he or she must uphold the standards of the association and its code of ethics.
A real estate broker is a person who has taken education beyond the agent level as required by state laws and has passed a broker’s license exam. Brokers can work alone or they can hire agents to work for them.
The University cannot make recommendations regarding specific real estate agents or realtors, but we can offer some advice when looking for a real estate agent.

Search online: A Google search will provide several reference sites. Look for someone with experience and familiarity with your interests and areas of interest. Popular local sites for residential real estate information include zillow.com and sf.curbed.com. The San Francisco Bay Area and UCSF are committed to sustainability, and for energy savings and environmental concerns you may want to look for the term “eco-broker” in agent profiles. The San Francisco Association of Realtors is online at www.sfrealtors.com.

Ask around: The best referrals may be from people you know. Put word out to the faculty and staff in your department that you are looking for a real estate agent, and ask if they can recommend someone with whom they have had a positive experience. Other faculty may be best suited to understand your needs as a faculty member and your particular work/life interests and potential neighborhoods.

Look around: Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, drive or walk to open houses in your neighborhoods of interest. You may find a good home, and possibly a good realtor. Feel free to approach other buyers or sellers and ask about their experience.

Interview potential agents: It is always good to interview at least three realtors before beginning your property search. HowStuffWorks.com has several recommended questions to ask your realtor. Some specific questions to consider:

What is their number of years in the business and number of transactions per year?
What are their area(s) of specialization?
Will you be working directly with them or with an assistant?
How available are they? Do they work nights? Weekends?
What is their preferred mode of communication (phone, text, e-mail)? How often will they contact you?

Consider calling a real estate broker or manager at one of the more successful or popular companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and ask for a “buyer’s agent interview.” Ask if they have any agents who are experienced with working with UCSF faculty.

Other Resources

If you would like to calculate mortgage payments in general, there are several online calculators which may be helpful, including bankrate.com, mortgagecalculator.org, and this simple one from The New York Times Real Estate section.

The State of California offers the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program, a down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers to be used in conjunction with the Dream For All Conventional first mortgage for down payment and/or closing costs. (This cannot be used in conjunction with the Mortgage Origination Program.)

While Heath Sciences Clinical Professors are not eligible to participate in the UC home loan program, any faculty with clinical activities may be able to take advantage of home loan programs in the market specifically for clinicians. BMO and Golden1 work extensively with UCSF faculty and provide mortgage programs just for them.

Steve Johnson is the BMO program specialist for UCSF faculty. The landing page for Golden1’s mortgage program for professionals is online here, or you can contact Home Loan Advisor Julie Shumate

Other banks such as BCU, PNC, Truist, and Wintrust have discounted mortgage programs for medical professionals.

•   BCU Medical Professional Mortgage Program
•   PNC Physician Loans
•   Truist Doctor Loan Mortgage Program
•   Wintrust Medical Professional Mortgage Program

The University makes no endorsements regarding these programs but provides this information as alternative resources which may benefit clinical faculty.

Home Loan Program Manager: [email protected]