Reading a Loan Estimate Georgia lenders send you means working through three pages. Page 1 shows your loan terms, projected payments, cash to close and rate lock status. Page 2 lists costs in Sections A through J, including Georgia's intangible recording tax and transfer tax. Page 3 compares APR and five-year costs across lenders.
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On page 1, check the loan terms, the projected monthly payment and whether your rate is locked.
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On page 2, compare Sections A (origination charges), B (services you cannot shop for) and J (lender credits) across lenders.
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In Section E, check Georgia's intangible recording tax against your loan amount, and see whether you are being charged the transfer tax.
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On page 3, compare the "In 5 Years" figure and the APR.
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Before closing, compare your Closing Disclosure line by line against your final Loan Estimate.
What the Loan Estimate is, and what it is not
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes it simply: "A Loan Estimate is a three-page form that you receive after applying for a mortgage." Your lender must provide it within three business days of receiving your application. Federal rules in 12 CFR 1026.19 also say it has to be delivered or mailed no later than the seventh business day before closing.
Two points to keep in mind. First, it is not an approval. The CFPB notes that when you receive a Loan Estimate, "the lender has not yet approved or denied your loan application." Second, every lender has to use the same standard form, which is what makes side-by-side comparison possible. A few loan types get different disclosures instead, including reverse mortgages, HELOCs, certain manufactured-housing loans and some homebuyer assistance programs.
The federal form is identical nationwide. What makes a Georgia Loan Estimate different is what shows up on it: a closing handled by a Georgia attorney, the state's intangible recording tax, the real estate transfer tax and a small state fee. We'll go through each one where it appears.
Page 1: loan terms, payments and the rate lock
The CFPB's Loan Estimate explainer walks through page 1 from top to bottom. Here is what to look for.
Loan Terms
This box shows the loan amount, interest rate and monthly principal and interest, and it tells you whether any of those can go up after closing. Make sure the loan amount and loan type match what you asked for. If you asked for a 30-year fixed and the box shows something else, raise it now.
Projected Payments
This section breaks your monthly payment into principal and interest, mortgage insurance (if any) and estimated escrow for items such as property taxes and homeowner's insurance. In Georgia, property taxes vary by county and by whether you have filed a homestead exemption, so treat the escrow figure as an estimate and not a promise.
Costs at Closing
This summary shows estimated closing costs and estimated cash to close. The details behind both numbers are on page 2.
The Rate Lock box
Under 12 CFR 1026.37, the form must tell you that the interest rate, any points and any lender credits can change unless the rate has been locked. If the rate is locked, the form must give the date and time the lock expires. An unlocked estimate is a snapshot, and the rate, points and credits can all move. Once you do lock, your lender must send a revised Loan Estimate within three business days.
Page 2, Loan Costs: Sections A through D
Section A: Origination Charges
These are the lender's own fees for making the loan. They fall in the group of charges that cannot go up after the estimate is issued, unless a revised estimate is allowed for one of the reasons covered below. This is one of the sections where lenders differ most, so compare it closely.
Section B: Services You Cannot Shop For
These are third-party services the lender requires and picks the provider for. They are also covered by the rule that these charges cannot increase.
Section C: Services You Can Shop For
These are required services where the lender lets you choose the provider. When a lender allows shopping, it must give you a written list of available providers, and the list must say you can choose a different provider. Which provider you pick matters for how much the fee can change later, as explained in the tolerance section below.
Federal rules require title-related charges to be labeled starting with the word "Title." On a Georgia Loan Estimate, that is where you will usually find charges tied to the title work and the closing itself. Section D adds up Sections A, B and C as Total Loan Costs.
Georgia sidebar: why an attorney runs your closing
In Georgia, a closing is not purely an administrative step. In Formal Advisory Opinion 04-1, decided February 13, 2006, the Supreme Court of Georgia held: "The closing of a real estate transaction in this State constitutes the practice of law, and, if performed by someone other than a duly-licensed Georgia attorney, results in the prohibited unlicensed practice of law." The court also said the attorney "is a fiduciary with respect to the closing proceeds," meaning the attorney has legal duties over the money that moves at closing.
On your Loan Estimate, this means the closing and title charges come from a Georgia attorney's office, not an out-of-state settlement company. Check whether those charges are in Section B or Section C. If they are in Section C, your lender must give you the written provider list, and you can ask who is on it and whether you may choose someone else. The section they are in also affects how much they can change before closing.
Page 2, Other Costs: Section E and Georgia's taxes
Section E is titled "Taxes and Other Government Fees" and contains two lines under the federal form rules: "Recording Fees and Other Taxes" and "Transfer Taxes." This is the part of the form with the most Georgia-specific content.
Georgia intangible recording tax
The Georgia Department of Revenue sets this tax "at the rate of $1.50 for each $500.00 or fractional part of the face amount of the note," and "the maximum amount of recording tax on any single note is $25,000." The lender is legally responsible for it, but the DOR says "the holder of the note can pass the amount of tax on to the borrower." The county collects it before the security deed is recorded with the clerk of superior court. The statute is O.C.G.A. 48-6-60 through 48-6-77.
Example: a $300,000 loan is 600 units of $500. At $1.50 per unit, the intangible tax is $900. Georgia Title & Escrow Company describes the tax as roughly 0.3% of the loan amount, which is a quick way to check the figure. Look for it among the taxes and government fees in Section E. If the number is far off from your loan amount times 0.003, ask your lender.
Refinancing: Under Georgia's rule (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-11-8-.05), no tax is due on the part of a new note that refinances the unpaid principal of an existing note still held by the original lender, as long as tax was paid on the original. Georgia Title & Escrow says the exemption applies only to refinances with the same lender and the same borrower, and only to the unpaid principal balance. If you refinance with a different lender, or borrow more than your remaining balance, expect tax on the amount that does not qualify.
HB 586: The tax applies to long-term notes. According to Troutman Pepper Locke, HB 586 was signed May 9, 2025, and took effect July 1, 2025. It changed the long-term cutoff from "more than three years" to "more than 62 months." Georgia Title & Escrow says the change mainly affects commercial, construction and bridge loans. A 15- or 30-year home mortgage is long-term under either definition, so the tax still applies.
Georgia real estate transfer tax
The Georgia DOR sets the transfer tax at "$1 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of $1,000 and at the rate of 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100." Georgia Title & Escrow gives examples: a $550,000 sale owes $550, and a $1,250,000 sale owes $1,250.
Who pays matters. The DOR says: "The seller is liable for the real estate transfer tax, though frequently the parties agree in the sales contract that the buyer will pay the tax." Georgia Title & Escrow says the standard Georgia REALTORS contract customarily assigns it to the seller. If your Loan Estimate shows you paying a transfer tax, check your purchase contract. A refinance has no sale, so you would not expect this line to apply. The statute is O.C.G.A. 48-6-1 through 48-6-10, and the tax is declared on Form PT-61.
The $10 GRMA fee
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance says "the fee shall be paid by the borrower to the collecting agent at the time of closing of the mortgage loan transaction." The fee is $10 per loan under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 80-5-1-.04. It applies to 1-4 family residential mortgage loans in Georgia, refinances included. It is a small amount, but now you will recognize it when you see it.
Sections F through J and Calculating Cash to Close
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Section F, Prepaids: homeowner's insurance, mortgage insurance, prepaid interest and property taxes paid up front.
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Section G, Initial Escrow Payment at Closing: the starting balance for your escrow account.
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Section H, Other: costs that do not fit elsewhere. Read each line and ask about anything you don't recognize.
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Section I, Total Other Costs: Sections E through H added together.
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Section J, Total Closing Costs: Total Loan Costs plus Total Other Costs, minus any lender credits. The CFPB points to lender credits in Section J as one of the numbers to compare across lenders.
The Calculating Cash to Close table below these sections shows how closing costs, your down payment, deposits and any credits combine into the amount you bring to closing.
Page 3: Comparisons and Other Considerations
The Comparisons box shows "In 5 Years" (roughly how much you will have paid over the first five years, and how much principal you will have paid off), the APR and the Total Interest Percentage (TIP). These figures help you compare offers with different rates, points and fees on equal terms.
Other Considerations covers the appraisal, whether the loan can be assumed by a future buyer, late payment terms and servicing. Read these even though they don't change your closing costs. They affect how the loan works after closing.
What can change before closing: three buckets
Federal "tolerance" rules in 12 CFR 1026.19(e)(3) limit how far final costs can move from the Loan Estimate.
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Cannot increase. By default, a charge meets the rule only if what you pay "does not exceed the amount originally disclosed." This covers the lender's own fees, fees paid to the lender's affiliates, services you were not allowed to shop for, and transfer taxes, because they are not listed in either of the other buckets.
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Can increase up to 10% as a group. Recording fees and third-party services you were allowed to shop for (when you picked from the lender's list and the provider is not the lender or its affiliate) are added together. The total can rise by no more than 10% over the estimate.
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No limit. Prepaid interest, property insurance premiums, escrow amounts, charges from providers you chose yourself (not from the lender's list), property taxes and charges for services the lender does not require can change, as long as the original estimate used the best information reasonably available.
Revised estimates are allowed only for listed reasons: changed circumstances, changes in your eligibility, revisions you ask for, rate-dependent charges when the rate was not locked, expiration, and delayed settlement on new construction. On expiration: if you tell the lender you want to proceed more than 10 business days after the estimate was provided (or after a longer period the lender set), the lender may issue revised figures.
Refunds: if you end up paying more than the "cannot increase" or 10% limits allow, the lender fixes it by refunding the excess no later than 60 days after closing.
How to compare offers
The CFPB's comparison guide advises focusing on "fees that vary by lender. Those are the total origination charges in Section A, the services listed in Section B, and lender credits listed in Section J." Government fees, taxes and insurance should look similar from lender to lender. In Georgia, that includes the intangible and transfer taxes, since both follow fixed state formulas. The guide also notes: "Your best bargaining chip is usually having Loan Estimates from other lenders in hand."
Georgia Loan Estimate checklist
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Compare Sections A, B and J across at least two or three Loan Estimates.
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Check the intangible recording tax: $1.50 per $500 of the loan amount, or about 0.3%.
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If you are buying, make sure the transfer tax on the estimate matches who pays under your purchase contract.
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If you are refinancing with your current lender, ask whether the same-lender exemption applies to your unpaid balance.
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Find the closing attorney and title charges and note whether they are in Section B or C.
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Once you lock, watch for the revised Loan Estimate within three business days and note when the lock expires.
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You must receive the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. Compare it line by line against your final Loan Estimate, using the three buckets above.
Related reading
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How to Weigh a Builder Rate Buydown vs Price Reduction in Georgia
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Jumbo or Piggyback on a North Fulton Home Over the Loan Limit?
