Medical, dental and law students in Little Rock, Arkansas, are typically in town for three or four years and most rent for the entire stretch. For those who expect to remain in Central Arkansas after graduation, Jerry Larkowski, Managing Broker at ESQ. Realty Group, LLC and a licensed attorney, says the planning should begin earlier than most students think.
The city hosts a large concentration of students in long professional programs. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences trains future physicians, pharmacists and nurses, UA Little Rock’s William H. Bowen School of Law sits downtown, and in 2025 the Lyon College School of Dental Medicine opened in the Riverdale neighborhood as the state’s first dental school.
Larkowski is clear that not every student needs to buy. Someone headed to a residency or a job in another state after graduation may be better off keeping things simple. For students who plan to stay, the case gets stronger. A house offers privacy and quiet that most apartments do not, which matters for someone studying for boards or the bar exam. “If one knows they will remain in Central Arkansas after school, it makes sense to start early,” he says.
There is a long-term benefit as well. When a graduate’s income grows and it is time for a larger home, the first house does not have to be sold. Larkowski says these homes can become good investments as rental houses.
For students not ready to buy, Larkowski suggests making it a goal for the next 12 months and using that time to learn Little Rock. That means paying attention to different areas of town, visiting open houses on Sunday afternoons, and walking the neighborhoods they like. “The best way to get to know a neighborhood is to walk it,” he says. “Drive there, park your car, and take a stroll.” Reviewing homes currently for sale beforehand helps students decide which ones are worth the drive. He also advises spending time in a neighborhood as a customer, shopping at nearby stores and talking to residents about what living there is like, and talking to lenders and realtors long before planning to make an offer.
Heavy student loans are the norm for medical, dental and law students, and they are often what surprises students most when they first sit down with a lender. Larkowski says student loans affect the debt-to-income ratio no differently than a car loan, including loans in deferment while a student is still in school. A $0 payment on a credit report does not mean a lender will count it as $0. FHA guidelines generally count 0.5% of the outstanding balance each month when no payment is reported, so a $200,000 balance could be treated as a $1,000 monthly payment. Under Fannie Mae guidelines, a deferred loan can be counted at 1% of the balance or a fully amortizing payment. That makes one question worth asking any lender before touring a single house: how will you count my student loans? The answer can change a budget by hundreds of dollars a month.
On the loans themselves, Larkowski advises choosing the repayment plan with the lowest monthly payment. “You will be able to ‘buy more house’ when it’s time,” he says, though a lower payment can mean more interest over the life of the loan. Federal loans made on or after July 1, 2026, also come with fewer choices: a tiered standard plan or the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan.
Some students buy during school and rent out part of the property, a strategy often called house hacking. FHA financing can be used for an owner-occupied property with up to four units, putting a duplex within reach for some buyers. “The duplex ‘house hack’ concept looks good on paper; if you can make it work, do it,” Larkowski says, attaching two conditions. First, hire a property manager and never tell the tenant next door that you own the building. Second, put roommates on paper, with a lease no matter how good a friend they are. His advice on timing is the same whether a student buys during school or two years after graduation: “You can start too late, but you can’t start too early.” More information is available at esqbrokers.com.
