The short answer: your down payment, plus closing costs and prepaids, minus whatever a lender credit, the seller, an assistance program or a rebate covers. On a real 2026 metro Atlanta quote below, that came to about 3 to 4 percent of the price on top of the down payment. Updated October 2026.
Build your Game Plan. We will contact you the same day.
Minimum down payments are program rules, not offers. For a full example with the rate, APR and every payment, see the worked quote below.
Closing attorney fee. Georgia purchases close with an attorney.
Lender's title insurance.
Georgia intangible recording tax: $1.50 per $500 of the loan (O.C.G.A. 48-6-61), about $656 on a $218,500 loan.
Recording fees.
Appraisal and credit report.
Lender fees, which a lender credit can offset if you take a slightly higher rate.
Prepaids: interest to the end of the month, the first year of homeowners insurance, and the starting deposit for your tax and insurance escrow.
FHA only: an upfront mortgage insurance premium, usually added to the loan rather than paid in cash.
Georgia transfer tax ($1 per $1,000 of price, O.C.G.A. 48-6-1) is customarily paid by the seller.
In exchange for a slightly higher rate.
FHA allows up to 6 percent of the price; VA up to 4 percent plus normal closing costs; conventional 3 to 9 percent depending on down payment.
When your loan is through our preferred lender: $1,035 (15 percent) or $1,725 (Heroes) on the example below.
Georgia Dream and Peach Plus through state approved lenders. We fully support them and can recommend Georgia Dream lenders; details below the worked quote.
Same price, same down payment: FHA wins the rate and the monthly payment, conventional wins the cash to close, and conventional mortgage insurance can come off at 20 percent equity while FHA's stays. We run both for your file.
An example from a quote our preferred lender prepared Aug 26, 2026 for a metro Atlanta buyer, shared without names. Not an offer, a rate lock or a Loan Estimate. Both columns are a 30 year fixed rate purchase loan on a $230,000 home with $11,500 down (5 percent). FHA: loan amount $222,324 including the financed upfront mortgage insurance premium, 6.000 percent interest rate, 7.067 percent APR; 360 monthly principal and interest payments of $1,333, plus FHA annual mortgage insurance for the life of the loan of $91 a month in year one, which steps down each year with the balance. Conventional: loan amount $218,500, 6.625 percent interest rate, 7.119 percent APR; 360 monthly principal and interest payments of $1,399, plus private mortgage insurance of $40 a month for the first 137 payments, until the balance reaches 78 percent of the original value on schedule. The monthly totals add estimated property tax and homeowners insurance of $150 a month each; your actual taxes and insurance may differ, and principal and interest alone do not include them. Rates move daily and every file is different. Rebate rows are our arithmetic on a 3 percent buyer side commission, which is negotiated and not a standard rate.
FHA monthly principal, interest and mortgage insurance by year (our arithmetic from the quote's loan amount, rate and $91 starting mortgage insurance; the lender's schedule governs): year 1 $1,424, year 2 $1,423, year 3 $1,422, year 4 $1,420, year 5 $1,419, year 6 $1,418, year 7 $1,416, year 8 $1,415, year 9 $1,413, year 10 $1,411, year 11 $1,409, year 12 $1,407, year 13 $1,405, year 14 $1,403, year 15 $1,400, year 16 $1,398, year 17 $1,395, year 18 $1,392, year 19 $1,389, year 20 $1,386, year 21 $1,382, year 22 $1,378, year 23 $1,375, year 24 $1,370, year 25 $1,366, year 26 $1,361, year 27 $1,356, year 28 $1,351, year 29 $1,345, year 30 $1,339.
Close With Coby is a real estate team of Virtual Properties Plus LLC and does not make loans. Loans through UHome Mortgage, powered by Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C., NMLS 181106. Coby Pegues, NMLS 2556341. Coby Pegues owns 100 percent of UHome Mortgage LLC; you are not required to use UHome Mortgage to buy a home with Close With Coby. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Georgia Dream Standard: lesser of 5 percent or $10,000. PEN and CHOICE: lesser of 6 percent or $12,500. Peach Plus, open to repeat buyers on FHA or VA loans: lesser of 3.5 percent or $10,000, or for PEN and CHOICE buyers the lesser of 4 percent or $12,500. All are 0 percent deferred second loans repaid when you sell or refinance. Metro Atlanta price caps $625,000 (Georgia Dream) and $725,000 (Peach Plus). You put in at least $1,000 of your own money. Source: Georgia DCA, effective July 8, 2026.
Georgia Dream loans are closed by state approved lenders. Close With Coby represents you as your agent; you choose the lender from DCA's participating lender list. We fully support Georgia Dream, Peach Plus and the other assistance programs, and we can recommend Georgia Dream lenders we know. These programs do not combine with our Buyer Rebate, so we show you both paths in dollars.
FHA allows 3.5 percent down with a 580 score; lenders can set higher minimums.
VA sets no minimum score; lenders set their own.
Your score changes your rate and your mortgage insurance, so a few points can move your monthly payment.
If you are not ready yet, we build a plan with dates: what to pay down, what not to open, and when to check again. You can still look at homes and learn the market while you work on it.
Opening new credit during the purchase. Moving money between accounts without a paper trail. Forgetting the insurance quote until the last week. Earnest money you cannot document. Waiving the inspection to save a few hundred dollars.
On the 2026 quote above, closing costs and prepaids came to about 3 to 4 percent of the price after the lender credit, before any seller concessions or rebate. Your number depends on the loan type, the county and the rate you choose.
Often, within the loan program's limit, if the offer and the market allow it.
Assistance can. Our rebate cannot go to your minimum required down payment; it covers closing costs, prepaids and rate buydowns.
No. Most buyers put down far less.
We will contact you the same day.
Your lender is your choice. Finance with our preferred lender and you get full representation plus the closing credit. Use another lender and you get the same full representation, without the credit.