Transfer tax
Georgia charges a real estate transfer tax of $1.00 per $1,000. It is customarily charged to the grantor, and how it applies to a gift with no consideration is confirmed when we prepare the deed.
Donate a house, timber tract or lot in Georgia, in any of the 159 counties
Georgia property specialists: (888) 228-7320
Donate Real Estate in Georgia
Georgia has 159 counties, more than any state but Texas, and a title system with two features that catch people out: lenders hold title through a security deed rather than a mortgage, and tax sales hand a purchaser a deed subject to redemption. Add generations of family land passed down without probate and you have the three conversations we have most often here.
Fully IRS Compliant
We Handle the Paperwork
Form 8283 Done Right
501(c)(3) Recognized Charity
Georgia rules for a property donation
Federal tax rules are the same in every state. These three are set by Georgia and by the county where the property sits.
Security deeds and the PT-61
Georgia lenders take title through a deed to secure debt rather than a mortgage lien, so a payoff and cancellation has to be in hand before a clean conveyance. Every transfer is also filed with a PT-61 real estate transfer tax form through the state’s electronic system. We handle both with the deed.
Recording
Deeds are recorded with the clerk of the superior court for the county where the property sits. You sign before a notary wherever you live, and we handle the filing.
What Georgia owners call us about
Four situations that recur across the state. None is a reason a property is turned away.
Heir property with no clear title
Land passed down for three or four generations without probate, now held by cousins in undivided shares. Georgia has a statutory process for this, and the first step is finding out who the owners are.
Pine acreage nobody is managing
South Georgia timber held by families who moved to the metro, with a harvest overdue and a tax bill every year.
A tax sale already held on the parcel
A Georgia tax sale gives the purchaser a deed subject to a redemption period, after which redemption rights can be barred. The dates decide how much room there is.
An intown lot between two houses
Atlanta and the older cities have thousands of single vacant lots, valuable to a neighbor and slow to sell on the open market.
Georgia property we accept
Each links to the full guide for that type, including how a donation compares with selling.
Houses in GeorgiaBungalows and shotgun houses intown, ranch houses in the suburbs, farmhouses in the country.
Georgia landIntown lots, rural acreage, river and lake parcels.
Farm and timber groundPine plantation, row crop, pecan groves and pasture.
Commercial propertySmall-town square buildings, storefronts and offices.
Industrial buildingsWarehouse and light manufacturing along the interstate corridors.
Land contractsProperty sold on terms years ago. We take over the payments and deliver the deed at payoff.
What a donation looks like by region
Six Georgias, each with its own reason property comes loose.
Metro Atlanta
Intown lots, inherited bungalows in neighborhoods that changed value fast, and small commercial on corridors that have been rebuilt around them.
North Georgia mountains
Steep wooded parcels, cabin lots sold in speculative subdivisions, and land where access and septic decide everything.
The coast and Golden Isles
Marshfront and island property, with state marshland rules and tidal boundaries that make a survey worth having before anything else.
Middle Georgia
Macon and the fall line cities, with older housing stock, empty downtown buildings and a steady supply of estate property.
South Georgia
Pine timber, row crop and pecan ground, plus small-town commercial buildings with no local buyer.
Augusta and the CSRA
River corridor land, mill-era housing and small industrial parcels.
Georgia real estate donation questions, answered
Is a donated deed subject to Georgia transfer tax?+
Georgia charges a real estate transfer tax of $1.00 per $1,000. It is customarily charged to the grantor, and how it applies to a gift with no consideration is confirmed when we prepare the deed.
I live outside Georgia. Do I have to travel there to sign?+
No. We prepare the deed in the form Georgia requires for the county where the property sits, you sign before a notary where you live, and we record it with the clerk of the superior court.
A tax sale has already been held on my property. Is it too late to donate?+
Not automatically. A Georgia tax sale purchaser takes a deed subject to redemption for a statutory period, and redemption rights can be barred afterwards by notice. The dates control everything here, so send us the tax deed and the sale date rather than waiting.
Does Georgia give a state tax deduction for a property donation?+
Georgia has a state income tax, and how it treats a charitable contribution is set by Georgia law rather than by us. Your federal deduction follows the usual IRS rules. Take the state question to your own advisor.
My family land has a dozen owners and no probate. Where do we start?+
With a list of names. Heir property is common here and Georgia has a statutory framework for resolving it. We work out who has to sign and whether the interest you hold can be given on its own. Tell us how the land came down and roughly how many people are involved.
We do not provide tax or legal advice. State and local transfer tax rules change; we confirm current requirements when we prepare each deed. Consult your own advisor.
Tell us about your Georgia property and we will review it
The county and a parcel number are enough to start.