Who Writes This and How It Was Verified
Program and regulatory figures verified October 7, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
A lender's site about two state tax credits that look alike and are not. The sourcing is the part that makes it worth reading.
Who writes this?
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. We originate in Georgia and the network already runs GA Loan Experts, Investor Loans Georgia and Buy Before You Sell Georgia.
Reach Mike at (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.
How the figures were verified
The credits: both read in full from the Georgia Department of Revenue's own pages. The $5,000 amount, the five-year limit, the 15 May 2024 cut-over, the $2 million aggregate cap, the first-come-first-served allocation, the mutual-exclusion rule, the dentist inclusion, the rural-hospital admitting requirement on the old credit and the returning-practitioner rule all come from those pages, with statute cites O.C.G.A. §48-7-29 and §48-7-29.26 and regulation 560-7-8-.70.
The county lists: parsed from DOR's published list page, which carries four separate lists. We counted each one and compared them, which is how the 76-to-118 expansion and the 42 added counties were established rather than asserted.
The transfer tax: from DOR's transfer tax page, which cites O.C.G.A. 48-6-1 through 48-6-10 and states the seller's liability and the contract caveat verbatim.
Loan limits: all 159 counties against the FHFA's 2026 county limit file. Every one at $832,750.
Market data: Zillow Research's public metro series for the month ending 31 August 2026. Thirty-seven Georgia metros, five of which fell.
★ Why citations were tested before writing
A citation an AI crawler cannot read is not much of a citation, so every source was fetched under both GPTBot and ClaudeBot before use.
★ Georgia produced an instructive case. DOR's tax-credit index page returns 403 to automated requests, while the individual credit pages return 200. Same domain, different behaviour. This site therefore links the specific credit pages and never the index.
And five URLs we guessed at during research — plausible-looking DOR and agency paths — returned 404. They were discarded and the real pages were found by search instead. Guessing a URL and publishing it is how a dead citation gets shipped; we check first.
Two sources did not pass and are not linked: Georgia's Board of Health Care Workforce site refuses automated access entirely, and a state finance commission site was unreachable at every user agent we tried.
★ What we refused to publish
- Any Georgia intangible recording tax rate. It is a separate charge from the transfer tax and we have not verified one at a primary source. An earlier Georgia build in this network recorded the same gap, and it still stands.
- Any figures for the Physicians for Rural Areas Assistance Program. Georgia's Board of Health Care Workforce site returns 403 to every agent we tried, so we could not read its terms. We note that a separate state programme exists and route you to the Board; we publish no amounts, terms or eligibility for it.
- A list of Georgia counties containing military bases. House Bill 82 excludes military personnel and dependents from the population count in such counties. We state the rule and publish DOR's resulting county list, rather than recomputing anyone's county.
- Any exemption list for the transfer tax. DOR directs taxability and exemption questions to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county, so we do too.
- Any modelling of your Georgia income tax liability, and no claim that anyone will realise the full $25,000. The credit has no carryover and cannot exceed liability; that is stated as DOR states it.
- Any assertion that credits remain available in the current calendar year. The $2 million aggregate is first come, first served, and that is a live figure held by DOR.
- A trainee route for the credits. DOR's conditions require a licensed professional practising and residing in a rural county. Ohio's statute has a final-year route; Georgia's published conditions do not state one, so we do not claim one.
- Any GME or resident counts. The AAMC's data reports refuse the crawlers.
And one on the residence rule: the older credit allowed, from 2003, practising in a rural county while residing in a contiguous county. The current credit's published summary says practise and reside. We flag that difference and tell readers to confirm it with DOR rather than resolving it ourselves.
What else we will not do
- Quote rates or payment amounts. Both are shown on your own file.
- Give tax advice. The credits are explained as DOR explains them, and every planning question goes to a tax professional.
- Advise on who pays the transfer tax. DOR says the seller is liable and that contracts frequently shift it; allocation is for your agent and closing agent.
- Treat the credit as mortgage income. It is not, and we will say so rather than let it inflate an expectation.
- Describe the physician programme as agency financing. It is a lender portfolio guideline set.
Found something wrong?
Email mcerto@cfmtg.com and we will fix it with a dated correction. The credit figures are the most likely to need updating: the county list moves with the census and with statute, and the annual cap means current-year availability changes.
Compliance
Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855. Equal Housing Lender. This is not a commitment to lend. Loans are subject to buyer and property qualification.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Mike Certo?
A Branch Manager at Cornerstone First Mortgage, NMLS #173855, holding NMLS #260555. He originates loans in Georgia and writes the programme explanations on this site. He can be reached at (480) 296-6513 or mcerto@cfmtg.com.How were the Georgia credit figures verified?
Both credits were read in full from the Georgia Department of Revenue's own pages, with statute cites O.C.G.A. §48-7-29 and §48-7-29.26. The county lists were parsed from DOR's published list page and each of its four lists was counted and compared, which is how the expansion from 76 to 118 counties was established rather than asserted. All verified 2026-10-06.Why doesn't this site list Georgia's intangible recording tax?
Because we have not verified a rate at a primary source. It is a separate charge from the real estate transfer tax and is commonly confused with it. An earlier Georgia build in this network recorded the same gap. Your closing agent will show you the figure.Does this site cover Georgia's other physician programme?
Only as a pointer. Georgia's Board of Health Care Workforce administers a separate programme, but its website returns an error to every automated tool we tried, so we could not read its terms and publish no amounts or eligibility for it. Contact the Board directly.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, visa, or licensure advice. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees, and overlays are set by the lender and change. Georgia's rural tax credits are set by statute and administered by the Georgia Department of Revenue; the Rural Health Care Professional Credit is subject to a $2 million annual aggregate cap allowed on a first come, first served basis, neither credit carries over, and neither can exceed the taxpayer's income tax liability. Nothing here is tax advice; confirm your position with a tax professional and with the Department of Revenue. Rural county designations are set by statute and census data and change. All loans are subject to borrower and property qualification, including credit and income review.