Buying near a Georgia base: a plan for service members and base civilians

The bases and the counties around them

Georgia hosts several large installations, and the housing markets around them work a little differently from metro Atlanta. Two of them went through name changes recently: Fort Benning was briefly called Fort Moore and Fort Gordon was briefly Fort Eisenhower, and the Army restored both names in 2025. You'll still see the older names on some maps and listings.

The income figures are for 1 to 2 people and 3 or more, and they count all adults in your household.

You probably qualify for PEN

The "protectors" group in Georgia Dream's PEN tier includes the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, the Army and Air National Guard, actively drilling reservists, and civil servants for a military base. That last group means many civilians at Robins, Fort Gordon or Fort Benning qualify too. If your spouse is a teacher, nurse, deputy or firefighter, the household may qualify through that job as well.

PEN pays 6% of the price or $12,500, whichever is less, as a 0% second mortgage with no monthly payment. You still need a 640 middle credit score, a first mortgage from a participating lender, homebuyer education and at least $1,000 of your own or gifted money.

Three ways to finance, side by side

Peach Select VA, for veterans and eligible surviving spouses, also drops the minimum investment to $500 and waives Georgia Dream's cap on savings after closing. It uses the standard Georgia Dream income and price limits. Rates change weekly, so treat those numbers as a snapshot.

VA basics that change the math

• No down payment is required and there's no monthly mortgage insurance.
• Funding fee: 2.15% on first use with less than 5% down, 3.3% after first use. It can be financed. Veterans receiving service-connected disability compensation, surviving spouses receiving DIC, service members with a pre-discharge rating and active-duty Purple Heart recipients don't pay it.
• Seller help is capped at 4% of the home's reasonable value.

Because VA needs no down payment, PEN mostly goes toward closing costs and prepaids, which is where many military buyers come up short.

First-time buyer rule: often waived for veterans

Georgia Dream normally requires that you haven't owned your main home in the past three years. DCA waives that for veterans who haven't used bond-financed assistance before, and for anyone buying in a Targeted Area. You still can't own other residential real estate at closing. If you've owned a home at a previous duty station and still have it, talk to your lender before you do anything else.

Plan for PCS orders before you buy

This is the part I most want military families to hear. The Georgia Dream second mortgage comes due when you sell, refinance, or stop living in the home as your main residence. If you get orders, move away and rent the house out, the assistance has to be repaid.

A few things to think through ahead of time:

• How long you expect to stay. Selling within 9 years can also bring federal recapture tax in some cases, because the first mortgage is bond-financed. Most buyers owe nothing; our repayment guide explains when it applies.
• Whether you'd sell or rent. If renting is the plan, compare the cost of paying back $12,500 against the rent you'd collect.
• Peach Select VA instead. With no Georgia Dream second mortgage, there's no assistance to repay on a move. Your lender confirms how the program's occupancy rules apply to you.

Local help near the bases

• Columbus: Sweet Home Columbus offers up to $49,999 toward the down payment at 80% of area median income (for example, $67,750 for a family of four), with a HOME sales price limit.
• Savannah: DreamMaker offers up to $30,000 inside city limits as a 2% deferred loan.
• Augusta: Augusta Housing and Community Development offers assistance for low- to moderate-income first-time buyers; confirm the current amount.
• Clayton County (metro Atlanta): veterans and their spouses get the higher $10,000 tier.

Whether a city program can be layered on Georgia Dream isn't stated in most of these program rules, so your lender confirms. No local program was found for Liberty County or Houston County.

Property tax relief for disabled veterans

Georgia exempts a large share of a disabled veteran's homestead value from property tax. The Department of Revenue lists the 2025 amount as $121,812. You claim it through your county when you file your homestead exemption.

Your next steps

1. Get your Certificate of Eligibility for VA, if you'll use a VA loan.
2. Decide whether PEN or Peach Select VA fits your cash and your timeline.
3. Ask a participating lender to run both, side by side.
4. Take the homebuyer education course and keep the certificate.

You've already done harder things than this. Take it one step at a time. The first one is easy: check your eligibility.

Questions we hear a lot

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