Why the County You Buy In Decides Your Loan Product
Here is a pattern experienced Atlanta investors know and newer ones learn expensively.
Metro Atlanta property tax millage varies sharply by county and because taxes sit inside the debt service coverage calculation, that variation determines whether a property qualifies for a DSCR loan at all.
Inner Atlanta properties in the highest-millage counties frequently produce debt service coverage ratios below 1.0, which puts them under most DSCR programs’ floor. The same purchase price and rent in a lower-millage county in the northern or western metro clears comfortably.
The consequence is direct: in high-millage metro counties, a 1099 loan is often not the alternative to a DSCR loan it is the only path. Your documented contractor income carries a file the property cannot carry on its own.
That makes Georgia one of the more important states in the country to have both products quoted before you go under contract. Verify current millage for the specific county and confirm the ratio before you assume DSCR works.
The Lenders
Select Home Loans
Select Home Loans is a Non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS #2384002) writing 1099 investor loans across Georgia. The county-by-county DSCR problem above is exactly why running one scenario is not enough we quote the 1099, bank statement, and DSCR paths on the same property so you can see which one the county’s tax rate actually allows.
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Other lenders worth calling — listed in no particular order:
Truss Financial Group A specialist Non-QM brokerage founded by Jeff Miller, a 25-year industry veteran, working exclusively in alternative documentation lending. Publishes Georgia-specific 1099, bank statement, DSCR, no-doc, and asset depletion programs with stated loan amounts up to $3 million and coverage from Atlanta metro to coastal Georgia, Athens, Macon, and Columbus.
Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions Headquartered in Atlanta, and one of the largest dedicated Non-QM investors in the country with a purpose-built 1099 income program. Reached through a broker. Their Georgia presence is genuinely local rather than nominal.
Angel Oak Prime Bridge An Atlanta-based private lender operating exclusively in Non-QM and investor lending, covering DSCR, bridge, and business-purpose loans across Georgia. Wholesale channel, with a 680 minimum FICO on DSCR above the 660 many programs accept.
Mbanc A direct lender publishing detailed Georgia-specific Non-QM content across bank statement, 1099, asset utilization, and DSCR, with published minimums around 640 FICO and stated maximum loan amounts to $4 million.
Griffin Funding Publishes qualifying on 90 to 100 percent of gross 1099 income, 620 minimum credit, and loan amounts to $4 million.
A&D Mortgage A Non-QM-only lender whose DSCR and alternative documentation investor programs are often quoted side by side, useful when you are comparing both paths on the same Georgia property.
Verify current licensure and program availability before relying on any listing. See the disclaimer at the end of this page.
Film Crew Income and the Two-Year Program
Georgia hosts the largest film and television production industry outside California, and production crew are almost entirely 1099. It is one of the most concentrated populations of well-paid independent contractors in the Southeast, and it has a distinctive underwriting problem.
Crew income arrives in production windows. A good year with three long shows looks nothing like a year with one short one, and total production volume in the state moves with tax-credit policy and industry cycles rather than with individual performance.
This is the textbook case for the 24-month lookback. A 12-month pull that lands on a slow cycle will badly understate a borrower who has earned consistently across a longer horizon.
Bring a short written explanation of your production history and any anchor relationships. Underwriters unfamiliar with the industry will flag the variability; underwriters who have seen it before will not. Your lender should know which they are dealing with.
How Qualifying Works
A 1099 loan qualifies you on income documented on your 1099 forms rather than the net profit shown after deductions.
Programs split into two camps. Some apply 90 percent or more of gross 1099 income with no expense deduction. Others apply an expense factor of 10 to 25 percent first.
On $180,000 of annual 1099 income:
| Method | Qualifying income |
| 90% of gross | $162,000/yr — $13,500/mo |
| Gross less 20% expense factor | $144,000/yr — $12,000/mo |
| Net profit from your tax return | frequently under $80,000 |
Worth noting for Georgia contractors: a 1099 program qualifying at 90 percent of gross will usually produce substantially more qualifying income than a bank statement program applying a standard expense factor to business deposits. If your income arrives cleanly on 1099-NEC forms, the 1099 program is generally the stronger starting point and for owner-operator truckers along the I-75 and I-85 corridors, whose documented expenses are enormous, it is frequently the only product that reflects reality.
Georgia’s 1099 Population
Film and television production crew, concentrated in metro Atlanta and discussed above.
Real estate agents and brokers, where Atlanta’s luxury and commercial segments produce substantial commission income with real year-to-year variability. Commission reported on 1099 qualifies the same way as contract income.
Owner-operator trucking and logistics along the interstate corridors and around the Savannah port.
Technology and fintech consultants in the Atlanta corridor, where a large share of the country’s payment processing infrastructure is headquartered, supported by a deep independent contractor layer.
Construction and specialty trades across a metro that has been building continuously for a decade.
Other Georgia Specifics
Non-judicial foreclosure, and fast. Georgia permits foreclosure by power of sale, and the process is among the quickest in the country. Non-QM investors price this favorably, which generally supports better LTVs here than in judicial states like Connecticut or Florida.
Georgia is an attorney closing state. An attorney must handle the closing. This is routine, but it affects timeline and closing cost structure, and out-of-state investors accustomed to title-company closings should plan for it.
Coastal versus inland insurance. Chatham and Glynn County properties Savannah, Tybee, Brunswick, St. Simons carry flood and wind considerations that inland metro Atlanta rentals do not. Both are active investor markets with different property-side underwriting profiles. Get an actual Georgia insurance quote; national estimates routinely understate the real number here.
Institutional buyers have shaped parts of the metro. Large-scale single-family rental operators have been active enough in some Atlanta submarkets to affect both pricing and comparable sales. That cuts both ways for appraisal support.
Investment Property Terms
- Down payment: 20–25 percent typical, better pricing at 25 percent and above
- Credit: 620 floor at most investors; 680 on some DSCR programs; real improvements at 700 and 740
- Reserves: 6–12 months PITIA, often with additional reserves per financed property already owned
- Prepayment penalties: common on investment property, typically 1–3 years, often buyable at a quarter to a half point
Questions to Ask
- What is the millage on this specific county, and does the property clear a 1.0 DSCR at it? (Ask this before you assume DSCR works.)
- Do you qualify on gross 1099 income, or apply an expense factor?
- My income is project-based will you run the 24-month scenario?
- Can you quote 1099, bank statement, and DSCR on the same property?
- Have you closed a coastal Georgia file recently, and how did wind and flood underwrite?
- What is the prepayment penalty, and what does removing it cost?
Disclaimer
The lenders described on this page are listed in no particular order. Select Home Loans appears first because we publish this page and originate these loans; we have a commercial interest in this category. No lender listed has paid for placement.
This page reflects our opinion based on publicly available information at the time of writing. It is general information, not a recommendation, an endorsement, or an offer of credit. Lender programs, guidelines, licensure, pricing, and availability change frequently and without notice, and nothing here guarantees that any lender is currently licensed in Georgia, currently offers the program described, or will approve your file.
County millage rates, insurance availability, and market conditions change and are specific to individual properties; verify them independently. Consult a licensed mortgage professional and where appropriate a tax advisor, attorney, or financial advisor before making any borrowing decision. Verify any lender’s licensure through NMLS Consumer Access at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Select Home Loans, NMLS #2384002. Equal Housing Opportunity.
