Georgia Closing Costs for Buyers: How Much You'll Pay

Transfer tax in Georgia

Georgia intangible recording tax on a long-term note secured by real estate (O.C.G.A. Sec. 48-6-61): $1.50 per $500 (or fraction thereof) of the FACE AMOUNT of the note/security deed, about 0.30% of the loan amount, not the sale price, capped at a maximum of $25,000 per note. The statute makes the holder (lender) liable for payment to the county collecting officer, but expressly allows the lender to pass the cost on to the borrower/mortgagor, and in practice it is a buyer/borrower closing cost, collected at recording alongside the security deed. An all-cash buyer owes none of this tax.

Worked example: On a $373,700 home: the transfer tax (customarily seller-paid) is about $373.70 ($1.00 on the first $1,000, plus 10 cents per additional $100 on the remaining $372,700). If the buyer finances with an illustrative 80% loan-to-value mortgage (about $298,960, an assumption for illustration only), the buyer's intangible recording tax on that security deed is about $897 (598 units of $500, at $1.50 each). An all-cash buyer would owe $0 of the intangible tax.

How much is title insurance in Georgia?

On a $373,700 home in Georgia, an owner's title policy costs about $2,229 and the lender's policy about $200 when both are issued together (the simultaneous-issue discount). The buyer customarily pays for the owner's policy and the lender's policy. Georgia is a filed-competitive state: each title insurer files its own rates, so premiums differ by company and it pays to get two quotes. Premiums computed from First American Title Fee Calculator (filed rates), Fulton County, Georgia, read September 11, 2026.

Who pays the owner's policy: buyer (First American's calculator default allocation for Fulton County; negotiable by contract) Source

Owner's policy on the full $373,700 price and the lender's policy on an 80% loan ($298,960), quoted together so the simultaneous-issue rate applies; First American filed rates for Fulton County.

Georgia-specific buyer costs on a $373,700 home

These are the line items set by Georgia law or filed rates. Lender fees, appraisal, escrow and prepaid taxes and insurance come on top and depend on your loan.

Do you need a closing attorney in Georgia?

Yes. Georgia is widely and consistently described across real estate industry and legal sources as an 'attorney state': a Georgia-licensed attorney must conduct or supervise the closing/settlement of a residential real estate transaction (unauthorized-practice-of-law doctrine, reinforced by Georgia Supreme Court unauthorized-practice-of-law rulings on real estate closings in the early 2000s). HOWEVER, this pass could not independently pull the controlling case or State Bar of Georgia formal advisory opinion text to cite a specific URL, several attempted fetches (State Bar of Georgia site, Justia case law, Old Republic's Georgia real-estate-practices page) returned no usable content. Treat 'required: true' as high-confidence industry consensus, not a freshly verified primary-source citation, and locate the exact case/opinion citation (commonly referenced in industry literature as an early-2000s Georgia Supreme Court unauthorized-practice-of-law ruling on real estate closings) before publishing it as a sourced legal fact.

Recording fees

Recording the deed costs $25 and the mortgage $25 at the Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court (Georgia's most populous county), but this is a UNIFORM STATEWIDE statutory fee set by the General Assembly, not by the county. Fee schedule

Other Georgia specifics

• Georgia intangible recording tax cap. The Sec. 48-6-61 intangible recording tax on a security deed is capped at a maximum of $25,000 per note, regardless of the loan's face amount, relevant mainly to large or jumbo loans, not a typical single-family purchase. Source
• Filing fee for additional real-estate instruments. Beyond the $25.00 flat filing fee for a deed or security deed (O.C.G.A. Sec. 15-6-77(f)(1)(A)(i)), each assignment, release, cancellation, or satisfaction of a prior instrument is billed as its own separate $25.00 filing at the same clerk of superior court. Source

How much are closing costs in Georgia?

For a buyer, closing costs usually run 2% to 5% of the purchase price. On Georgia's median-priced home (about $373,700), that is roughly $7,474 to $18,685, and it is separate from your down payment. The exact figure depends on your lender, your loan, and local taxes.

What closing costs include

Closing costs are a bundle of one-time fees due at settlement: lender or origination fees, an appraisal, title insurance, escrow and settlement fees, recording fees and any Georgia transfer tax, plus prepaid property taxes and homeowners insurance.

Why Georgia closing costs vary

The single biggest reason closing costs differ from state to state is transfer taxes, which states and sometimes counties and cities charge on the sale. Title insurance customs and whether an attorney is required at settlement also matter.

How a rebate offsets Georgia closing costs

Buyer commission rebates are legal in Georgia. Because a rebate can be paid as a credit at closing, it can erase a meaningful share of these costs. On a $373,700 home, a 2% rebate is about $7,474, often enough to cover much of the closing bill.

See Georgia buyer rebates and how to get one →

Sources

• Georgia transfer tax statute
• First American Title Fee Calculator (filed rates), Fulton County, Georgia, read September 11, 2026
• Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court (Georgia's most populous county) -- but this is a UNIFORM STATEWIDE statutory fee set by the General Assembly, not by the county recording fees
• Georgia intangible recording tax cap
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: buyer closing costs are typically 2% to 5% of the purchase price

Georgia figures last verified against official sources on September 11, 2026.