Rental / DSCR in Georgia

Yes, and it is the one common investor structure that does. O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 charges $1.50 for each $500 or fraction of the face amount of a note secured by Georgia real property, which is about 0.30 percent. Under 48-6-60(3), as amended by HB 586 effective July 1, 2025, a note counts as long-term and taxable only if any part of principal falls due more than 62 months from the date of the note. A 30-year fixed clears that line easily: on a $400,000 note the tax is $1,200 (400,000 / 500 = 800 units x $1.50 = $1,200), capped at $25,000 on a single note. A 5-year balloon on 30-year amortization does not, which is why the structure question is worth asking before you paper the deal. The county collects from the holder, who may pass the amount on to the borrower but may not treat it as part of the finance charge. Ask your closing attorney to price it on your actual term. Subject to underwriting.

Georgia has a flat income tax, and it has been coming down. HB 111 cut the flat individual rate to 5.19 percent effective January 1, 2025, and HB 463, signed May 11, 2026, cut it to 4.99 percent effective January 1, 2026, with provision for further annual reductions. Georgia applies the same flat rate to corporate income. On the entity side, the corporate net worth tax under Title 48 Chapter 13 Article 4 reaches corporations doing business or owning property in Georgia: a partnership pays none, and a single-member LLC pays none unless its owner is a corporation, so the standard investor vehicle, an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded, owes nothing. We do not publish a Georgia rate for any year past 2026, because the further step-downs are revenue-trigger dependent. Confirm your own position with a Georgia CPA.

Start from 40 percent of value, then apply the county millage. O.C.G.A. 48-5-7(a) assesses all taxable tangible property at 40 percent of fair market value, taxed on the local levy, so the effective rate is millage x 0.40: ten mills on a $500,000 rental is $2,000 (500,000 x 0.40 x 0.010 = 2,000). Two things help a rental owner. First, 48-5-2(3) makes the most recent arm's length sale amount the maximum allowable fair market value for the next taxable year, so your purchase price caps the first bill. Second, the same paragraph requires that the income approach, if data is available, shall be considered for income-producing property, which is a statutory argument against a comps-only value. HB 581's floating homestead exemption does not reach you, because non-owner-occupied property is not homestead property. Millage belongs to the county, so check the Atlanta DSCR page or ask us about yours, and run the deal on the DSCR calculator.

You get 45 days, and a win can hold for three years unless you renovate. Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-306 the annual notice of assessment must be mailed no later than July 1 and must state, in the statute's own words, that an appeal has to be filed in writing no later than 45 days after the date of this notice or the right is lost. The clock runs from the notice date printed on the form, not from the day you open the envelope. Routes under 48-5-311 are the county board of equalization, arbitration, or, for non-homestead property valued above $750,000, a hearing officer with appeal to superior court, and you may submit an appraisal performed within nine months of the assessment date. Where an appeal decision or stipulation sets a value, 48-5-299(c) bars the assessors from raising it for the next two successive years, though exception (4) lets them move it after a visual on-site inspection finds substantial improvements. Bring it to your Georgia property tax counsel.

Get a bound quote, and know there is a fallback if carriers decline the property. Georgia is a 45-day prior-filing state: under O.C.G.A. 33-9-21, for lines other than personal private passenger auto, an insurer must file a rate, rating plan or underwriting rule with the Commissioner at least 45 days before the indicated effective date, and no premium may be collected under a filing the Commissioner did not receive 45 days ahead. That is a filing-plus-waiting regime rather than pure file-and-use. When private carriers will not write a vacant or under-renovation property, the Georgia Underwriting Association is the residual market, describing itself as functioning "as a residual insurance market in order that basic property and liability insurance may be made available to all Georgians," writing dwelling, homeowners, mobile home and commercial property. It does not sell direct, so a licensed agent submits the application. Premiums vary by market, so price the specific address rather than a state average.

Plan on 20% at maximum leverage. We go up to 80% LTV, so on a $400,000 Georgia rental that is up to $320,000 from us and $80,000 from you (400,000 x 80% = 320,000), before closing costs and reserves. The DSCR floor is 0.75, and taxes and insurance sit inside that ratio, so the county millage against a 40 percent assessed value can be the thing that pushes you to a larger down payment. Add the intangible recording tax if you take the 30-year fixed. Subject to underwriting.

640 is where this program starts, not where maximum leverage starts. We do run credit here, unlike our asset-based programs, because a 30-year rental loan prices off it. At the floor, expect lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard pull to open a file. If your score will not clear it, the asset-based side of the shop has no minimum at all. Plan on 2 to 3 weeks to close a DSCR file. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. $100,000 to $3,000,000. That range covers most single-family and small multifamily across Georgia. If you are past the top end, or holding five or more doors, a portfolio structure usually fits better. Prepay comes in flexible structures set with the rest of the terms, so tell us up front if you expect to sell or refinance early. That matters more here than in most states, because a note that runs past 62 months carries the intangible recording tax. Subject to underwriting.