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Today's Mortgage Rates in Georgia

Today’s mortgage and refinance rates plus current home buying and refinance advice for Georgia residents

Buying a home in Georgia

If you’re tempted to save on your home inspection fee when you’re buying a home in Georgia, you probably shouldn’t. The law over what the seller must disclose to you is a bit confused. In theory, Georgia subscribes to the caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") principle when it comes to real estate transactions. In other words, the buyer purchases the place "as-is" and the seller is not obliged to say a word about any defects or issues. That’s the position of Georgia statute law. But some Georgia courts have found sellers do have duties to disclose material defects. And it’s standard practice for sellers to provide such disclosures on a special form drawn up by the Georgia Association of Realtors. Even in states with clear statutory obligations to disclose, it’s often a good idea to have a home inspection. After all, owners may not know of some defects (or may claim not to know of them), which relieves them of their legal duty to disclose. A couple of insurance issues when you’re buying a home in Georgia:
  1. You’ll be obliged to buy hurricane coverage within your homeowners insurance
  2. Hurricane insurance typically comes with high deductibles. You may have to pay the first $x of every claim you make. And $x might be between 1% and 5% of the insured value of your home, depending where you live
That could add up to a lot of money.

First time home buyer programs and grants in Georgia

Georgia has a few big first time home buyer programs:
  • The Georgia Dream Homeownership program: Offers up to $7,500 toward your down payment and/or closing costs. Available to qualified first time home buyers in Georgia who meet income, credit, and purchase price requirements. The assistance must be repaid when the home is sold, refinanced, or transferred
  • The Georgia Homestretch Down Payment Assistance program: Offers up to $7,500 in assistance to home buyers in Gwinnett County. To qualify, you must have an income equal to 80% or less of the local median, a credit score of 640 or higher, and a debt-to-income ratio of 43% or lower
  • HUD Assistance: More help is available to Georgia home buyers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). You can read more about these assistance programs on HUD’s webpage
There may be other, local first time home buyer programs in Georgian as well. Down payment assistance is often hyper-local. You can research programs in your city or county online, or contact the Georgia Housing Finance Authority for help.

Refinancing in Georgia

The laws and processes surrounding refinancing in Georgia are similar to those in most other states. There seem to be no special restrictions that apply here. Atlanta has had an exceptionally strong real estate market for several years. And many homeowners there have quickly acquired enough equity (the amount by which the market value of your home exceeds your mortgage balance) to make refinancing attractive. But Georgia is more than just Atlanta. And some parts of the state have had less stellar housing markets. Indeed, the state as a whole has moderate levels of negative equity (when your home’s worth less than your mortgage balance) compared with the entire nation. To find out whether you’re eligible to refinance, check out the sale prices of comparable, recently sold homes in your neighborhood or area. Then deduct your current mortgage balance to discover your approximate level of equity.

How to get the best mortgage rates in Georgia

Finding the best mortgage rates takes a little work. Advertised rates are a good place to start — but to find your own lowest rate, you’ll have to compare personalized quotes from a few different lenders. That’s because your rates might be higher or lower than advertised depending on your credit score, down payment, loan amount, and other factors. A good place to start might be looking at Georgia’s five biggest mortgage lenders: Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans, SunTrust, Bank of America, and Fidelity Southern Corp,. According to ValuePenguin. Or you can check out the top ranked lenders on these lists: The Best Mortgage Lenders for 2023, and The Best Mortgage Refinance Companies for 2023

Mortgage calculator: Georgia

Calculate your mortgage payment for a home in Georgia. Start by finding your current mortgage rate using the filters above. Then enter your rate, home price, down payment, and loan term into the mortgage calculator below to estimate your monthly payment.

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