Fix and Flip in Georgia

One day a month, at the county courthouse. Georgia forecloses non-judicially under a power of sale in the security deed. O.C.G.A. 9-13-161(a) puts sales at the courthouse of the county where the levy was made, on the first Tuesday of each month between 10:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M., at public outcry, moving to the first Wednesday when that Tuesday is New Year's Day or Independence Day. Two things have to happen first: written notice of initiation of the power of sale to the debtor no later than 30 days before the sale under 44-14-162.2(a), by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, and advertisement weekly for four weeks in the county legal organ. You may read elsewhere that Georgia requires 21 days between the first advertisement and the sale. It does not: O.C.G.A. 9-13-141 says the interval, whether more or less than 30 days, does not invalidate the sale. Practically, Georgia distressed supply arrives in a predictable monthly batch, so money has to be committed before the sale rather than after. For what the metro is actually doing, see Atlanta fix and flip.

No, and that is worth real money. Georgia taxes the note, not just the deed: O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 charges $1.50 per $500 of face amount, about 0.30 percent, on an instrument securing a long-term note. Under 48-6-60(3), as amended by HB 586 effective July 1, 2025, a note is long-term only if any part of principal falls due more than 62 months out. A 6-month interest-only flip note does not come close, so the tax is zero. For scale, a $400,000 note that did run long-term would carry $1,200 (400,000 / 500 = 800 units x $1.50 = $1,200). Your transfer tax on the purchase is separate and light, $1.00 on the first $1,000 of price plus 10 cents per additional $100, so $400 on a $400,000 buy. Have your closing attorney confirm both lines on your settlement statement.

A Georgia attorney closes it, in person. In re UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2 approved the State Bar committee's position that a non-attorney preparing and facilitating execution of a deed of conveyance is practicing law without a license, that the role cannot be delegated to a non-lawyer, and that the attorney must be physically present at the closing. Witness-only closings run by signing agents were the target. On top of that, Georgia has no remote online notarization for its own notaries, the pandemic-era authority having lapsed in 2022. For a flipper that means the attorney is a scheduling dependency on both ends of the deal, the buy and the resale, and the firm you use should be picked before you go under contract. Ask us early and we will work to the attorney's calendar. Subject to underwriting.

Your basis caps it for a year, and your buyer's does not. O.C.G.A. 48-5-2(3) says the transaction amount of the most recent arm's length sale is the maximum allowable fair market value for the next taxable year, and 48-5-2(.1) counts a distress, short, bank or auction sale as arm's length. Buy distressed at $180,000 and the assessor may not value above $180,000 that next year, on the statewide 40 percent assessment ratio under 48-5-7(a). The cap runs one taxable year, not forever, and it cuts the other way for the person who buys your finished house at retail. One more trap on a rehab: the three-year value freeze under 48-5-299(c) that follows an appeal decision has an exception at (c)(4) for assessors who find substantial additions or improvements after a visual on-site inspection, so a gut renovation reopens the value. Take the specifics to your Georgia CPA or property tax counsel.

There is no minimum score on this program. We do run credit, but on an asset-based loan it carries far less weight than it would at a bank. The file turns on the property, the rehab budget, and the after repair value. Weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard credit pull to start. Closings here run 5 to 7 days once title and insurance come together, so bring the deal early. Subject to underwriting.

Roughly 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs and a contingency. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, on a 6-month interest-only term. On a $400,000 Georgia purchase that is up to $360,000 from us and $40,000 from you (400,000 x 90% = 360,000), with rehab drawn against the schedule rather than paid up front. Add the attorney's closing fee and the 0.10 percent transfer tax, so $400 on that same $400,000 buy. Loan sizes run $100,000 to $5,000,000. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. First-time flippers are welcome on this program. The file is underwritten on the property, the budget, and the exit, so a thin track record is not a decline by itself. Expect it to show up in leverage rather than in a yes or no, and expect harder questions about your contractor and your ARV support. Line up your Georgia closing attorney before you go under contract, because in this state that firm runs both the purchase and the resale. Subject to underwriting.