We Buy Houses in Catoosa County

Selling from the Tennessee side of the line

The county's comprehensive plan, using Census commuting data, counts more than 11,000 residents who work in Hamilton County, Tennessee, compared with roughly 5,000 who both live and work in Catoosa. Plenty of owners have made the same move permanently, and plenty of inherited houses now belong to heirs in Chattanooga or East Ridge.

If the seller is not a Georgia resident, Georgia law has the buyer withhold 3 percent of the purchase price and send it to the Department of Revenue. There are exemptions, including a principal residence under federal tax rules and sales under $20,000, and the withholding can instead be figured on the seller's gain. The seller later files a Georgia nonresident return with Form G2-RP attached to settle the actual tax. A Georgia attorney still has to close, but you can sign where you live and send the documents back.

Ringgold after 2011, and the storm risk since

The National Weather Service rated the April 27, 2011 tornado an EF4 with 175 mph winds. It touched down along Davis Ridge Road, crossed Ringgold, and continued toward Cohutta and into Tennessee, damaging or destroying 75 to 100 homes, with the worst destruction along Cherokee Valley Road.

Houses in that path were rebuilt, repaired, or left. If yours was repaired, the permits and the insurance paperwork help a buyer understand what was replaced. If it was never finished, we buy it as it stands. The county's current plan notes that residents of mobile home neighborhoods are especially vulnerable to tornadoes, and Ringgold has reported recent flash flooding that it plans to address through stormwater work.

Rural Catoosa: wells, septic, and creeks

In the county's agricultural areas the plan describes limited municipal water and sewer, with wells as the main water supply and septic or other on-site systems for wastewater. The county intends to expand sewer with the cities, and state Clean Water Act grants have paid for septic repairs in the county, where a dozen stream sections, including parts of South and West Chickamauga creeks, are listed as impaired for bacteria.

If you have the septic permit or a pumping receipt, send it. If you do not, Catoosa County Environmental Health is the office to ask about the system's records, and we do not need a fresh evaluation to make an offer.

Catoosa County property we buy

• Houses repaired, partly repaired, or never repaired after the 2011 tornado
• Inherited houses owned by heirs living in Tennessee
• Mobile homes on family land in the unincorporated county
• Dated or dilapidated rentals in Fort Oglethorpe, occupied or vacant
• Ringgold houses with drainage or flash-flood damage
• Rural houses on wells and septic, including unpermitted additions
• Vacant land and lots with an old home site

Records, courts, and closing in Catoosa County

Ringgold is the county seat. The Catoosa County Clerk of Superior Court, part of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, records deeds and liens and provides certified real estate records. Estates and wills for Catoosa owners are handled by the Catoosa County Probate Court. The Tax Assessor sets fair market value and the Tax Commissioner bills on 40 percent of it, and a licensed Georgia attorney closes.

For an offer, tell us where you live now, who is on the deed, and whether the house is occupied. Here the closing date usually turns on three things: whether nonresident withholding or an exemption applies, whether an estate has to be opened for out-of-state heirs, and what storm repairs were or were not done.

Frequently asked questions