We Buy Houses in Gilmer County

Flood history where the rivers meet

The Cartecay River meets the Ellijay River inside the City of Ellijay, and together they become the Coosawattee. The National Weather Service gauge on the Coosawattee near Ellijay is at flood stage at 8 feet. By 11 feet the Weather Service expects several homes and mobile homes to flood from just below town to several miles up the Ellijay and Cartecay, and higher stages bring water into homes, businesses, and roads across Ellijay. The September 2004 crest from Hurricane Ivan, about 17.3 feet, is among the highest on record.

Gilmer County requires a survey showing the floodplain line and two elevation certificates, one before the footing inspection and one before the final, for a structure permitted in the 1 percent floodplain. If your house went through that process, Planning and Zoning may have the certificates, and they help with a flood insurance quote. If it predates that or has flooded, we buy it without them.

Short-term rentals in unincorporated Gilmer

Chapter 45 of the county code requires a short-term rental host license for rentals in unincorporated Gilmer County. The license is issued to the owner, expires every December 31, and is non-transferable, so a buyer files a new application. Each application must include an attestation that a qualified professional has done a safety inspection and that any problems were corrected, and a fresh inspection is due every three years. Renting for more than 30 days without paying for the license brings a penalty of three times the fee.

Occupancy is capped at two people per bedroom plus two, and the ordinance counts bedrooms as shown on the building permit, environmental health records, tax assessor records, or a site inspection. In practice that means the bedrooms on file, not the number in an old listing, set how many guests a buyer can host, which matters if a loft or basement room was never permitted.

Sewer, wells, and lot size

The Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority serves both cities and parts of the county, but its sewer area is much smaller than its water area, and the county's joint plan names steep slopes and distance from the treatment plant as the main limits. Outside the water and sewer service areas, the minimum residential lot is 1.5 acres, and houses run on septic and often a private well. The same plan says poor well water quality is why public water was extended to the Roundtop community.

Septic records are kept by Gilmer County Environmental Health in Ellijay. Carters Lake, downstream on the Coosawattee, is a Corps of Engineers reservoir with no private docks, so a lot near it is lake-view or lake-access land, not frontage that can carry a dock.

Gilmer County property we buy

• Cabins with a current or lapsed county host license
• Houses near the Ellijay, Cartecay, and Coosawattee Rivers with flood history
• Mobile homes on land along the rivers and in the hills
• Houses on private wells, including in areas known for poor well water
• Steep-lot cabins with failing decks, retaining walls, or driveways
• Older houses in Ellijay and East Ellijay with original wiring and plumbing
• Farm tracts and wooded acreage with a house on them
• Inherited property where the estate has not been opened

Records, courts, and closing in Gilmer County

Ellijay is the county seat. Gilmer County deeds, liens, plats, and UCC filings go on record with the Clerk of Superior Court, whose office keeps the land records. Estates, guardianships, and conservatorships go through the Gilmer County Probate Court. The Gilmer County Tax Commissioner handles property tax bills and payments, and the hotel-motel excise tax on rentals is reported to the county's short-term rental office each month. Our closings in Gilmer are run by a Georgia attorney, which state practice requires.

Before we price a Gilmer property, we ask three things: has it flooded, has it been rented and under whose license, and what is known about the well and septic. In Gilmer the closing date usually depends on whether an estate needs to be opened, and the price depends most on flood exposure, the condition of the road and driveway, and the bedroom count on record. We do not need a new safety inspection or an elevation certificate to make an offer.

Frequently asked questions