Mortgage Pre-Approval and Home Loans in Georgia

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, licensed to originate mortgages in Georgia through C2 Financial Corporation.

The loan itself is national. What is genuinely Georgian is the closing — who runs it, which taxes the state charges on the transaction, and who the standard contract expects to pay for what. Those are the things that surprise people who have bought a home somewhere else, and they are what this page is for.

Start with the pre-approval

Do the qualifying work before you find the address. A documented pre-approval means income, debts and credit have actually been reviewed, and it means the wrinkles surface while they are still cheap to fix.

You can run the first pass yourself, anonymously, before I know your name — see your numbers — and what a real pre-approval involves covers the rest. No letter from anyone is a loan commitment; final approval always depends on the property, the appraisal and full underwriting.

Georgia is an attorney-closing state

This is the first thing to know, and it catches people moving from states that close through a title or escrow company.

In Georgia, conducting a residential real estate closing is the practice of law. A Georgia lawyer has to control the closing from beginning to end — not merely witness signatures at the end of it. The State Bar has said this directly, and state law separately limits who may handle settlement proceeds in a residential mortgage transaction to the lender or an active member of the Georgia Bar.

A title company cannot substitute for that legal role. It is not a preference or a local habit; it is how closings are conducted in Georgia.

One thing changed recently and is worth knowing. A 2025 State Bar opinion allows the responsible lawyer to satisfy that presence-and-control duty by live video rather than being physically in the room, provided they remain in control throughout. If you have read older guidance saying a Georgia attorney must always be physically present, that is out of date.

What it does not mean is that every Georgia closing can now happen entirely online. Document execution still has to satisfy the applicable witnessing and notarization requirements, and those are a separate question from the lawyer's supervision. Whether your specific documents can be executed remotely is confirmed transaction by transaction — worth asking early if you are buying from out of state.

Two Georgia taxes on the transaction

Georgia charges two different taxes that people frequently confuse, and they are triggered by different things.

The intangible recording tax applies when an instrument securing a long-term note against Georgia real estate is recorded. Because both a purchase and a refinance ordinarily record a new security instrument, this one can apply to either. The lender is legally responsible for it, though the Department of Revenue permits the cost to be passed along — so it commonly appears as a client-facing line. Georgia is one of a small minority of states that tax the security instrument, which is why national estimates rarely include it.

What counts as a "long-term" note is defined by statute, and that definition was changed by legislation in 2025. Shorter-term notes fall outside it.

The real estate transfer tax is triggered by a taxable transfer of the property itself. A security deed that only secures debt is not a transfer — so an ordinary refinance with no change of title does not trigger it. Official clerk guidance says the seller pays it unless the contract says otherwise.

I am deliberately not printing either rate. They are statutory, the legislature revises them, and a number that is right today and wrong in two years is worse than no number. The closing-cost estimator prices them against your actual scenario with current figures.

The refinance exemption, stated precisely

This one is worth getting exactly right, because the loose version of it circulates widely and it is wrong in a way that costs money.

There is relief from the intangible recording tax on a refinance — and it is narrow. It applies to a qualifying refinance by the same lender, to the same client — the statute frames it as the original parties to the prior instrument — where the prior tax was paid or the prior instrument was exempt, and where the required statement or affidavit identifies the refinanced principal. Any additional advance remains taxable.

A refinance with a different lender does not get that exemption simply because the new balance is no higher than the old one. That is the version people repeat, and it is not what the rule says.

The practical consequence: on a Georgia refinance, whether you stay with your existing lender is a question with a tax consequence attached, and it is worth pricing both ways rather than assuming. That is exactly the kind of thing a broker shopping several lenders has to weigh honestly, because sometimes the exemption is worth more than a better rate elsewhere and sometimes it is not.

Title insurance in Georgia can be shopped

Georgia title rates are filed with and reviewed by the state, but they are insurer-specific rather than one schedule every company shares. That structure permits real differences between insurers and their filed manuals.

Which means shopping the title insurer or agent can matter here — unlike states where rates are effectively fixed and comparing is pointless.

Reissue and refinance discounts exist, and they are not a universal Georgia entitlement. Whether a prior policy qualifies, how far back it can reach, and what proof is needed all depend on the individual insurer's current filed rules. It is worth asking for specifically rather than assuming it applies.

Who pays for what

The standard Georgia REALTORS purchase form puts the title search and the remaining closing charges on the buyer unless the agreement says otherwise, and contemplates the buyer being quoted an owner's policy.

That is a contract default, not a law. It is negotiable, and a seller contribution toward closing costs is an ordinary thing to ask for. But if you are moving from a state where the seller customarily covers the owner's policy, this is a line that moves — and the standard form assumes it lands on you.

Transfer tax is the separate case noted above: seller-paid unless the contract changes it.

The lender's policy, which protects the lender's lien rather than your equity, is required on every new loan in every state, including on refinances.

What this means practically

• Budget for an attorney's closing fee, because there will be one. It is a real line and it is not the same as a title company's settlement fee elsewhere.
• Ask about the intangible tax early on a refinance, and specifically whether staying with your current lender changes it.
• Ask whether a reissue discount applies to your prior title policy.
• Read the contract's cost allocation rather than assuming what your last state did.
• If you are buying from out of state, ask early whether your documents can be executed remotely. The lawyer may appear by video; that is not the same question as whether you can.

Where to start

Run your numbers — no credit pull, no account, and nobody calls you. You will see rates for your scenario, your debt ratio, and closing costs priced for Georgia rather than a national average.

When you want the letter behind you, here is what a real pre-approval involves. And if you are moving to Georgia from somewhere else, what actually changes when you cross a state line is the wider picture — this page is the Georgia half of it.

Common questions

Does Georgia require an attorney for a real estate closing?

Yes. Conducting a residential real estate closing in Georgia is the practice of law, and a Georgia lawyer must control the closing from beginning to end rather than simply witnessing signatures. State law also limits who may handle settlement proceeds in a residential mortgage transaction to the lender or an active member of the Georgia Bar, so a title company cannot substitute for that role.

Can a Georgia closing be done remotely?

Partly, and the distinction matters. A 2025 State Bar opinion allows the responsible closing lawyer to satisfy their presence-and-control duty by live video rather than being physically present. That does not by itself make every document eligible for remote execution — witnessing and notarization requirements are a separate question, confirmed transaction by transaction.

What is Georgia's intangible recording tax?

A tax applied when an instrument securing a long-term note against Georgia real estate is recorded. Because purchases and refinances both ordinarily record a new security instrument, it can apply to either. The lender is legally responsible for it, though the Department of Revenue permits the cost to be passed to the client, so it commonly appears as a client-facing line.

Do I pay intangible tax again when I refinance in Georgia?

There is relief, and it is narrower than most people believe. The exemption for previously taxed principal applies to a qualifying refinance by the same lender to the same client — the original parties to the prior instrument — with the prior tax paid and the required statement or affidavit filed. Additional advances stay taxable, and a refinance with a different lender does not receive that exemption merely because the balance did not increase.

Does a refinance trigger Georgia transfer tax?

Generally not. Transfer tax is triggered by a taxable transfer of the property, and a security deed that only secures debt is not a transfer — so an ordinary refinance with no change of title does not trigger it. On a purchase, official guidance provides that the seller pays it unless the contract states otherwise.

Who pays for title insurance in Georgia?

The standard Georgia REALTORS purchase form places the title search and remaining closing charges on the buyer unless the agreement says otherwise. That is a contract default rather than a law, so it is negotiable and a seller contribution can be requested. Buyers relocating from states where the seller customarily pays the owner's policy should expect this line to move.

Can I shop for title insurance in Georgia?

Yes, and it can be worth doing. Georgia title rates are filed with and reviewed by the state but are insurer-specific rather than a single shared schedule, so genuine differences exist between companies. Reissue and refinance discounts also vary by insurer's current filed rules, so eligibility and proof requirements are worth asking about directly.