Most timelines online say a closing takes a set number of weeks. Yours does not depend on an average; it depends on the dates in your contract and on a few rules that apply no matter what. Enter your binding agreement date, due diligence days and closing date, and the planner lays out every deadline and exports them to your calendar.
Decision tool 2
Put your closing dates on one calendar
Type the dates from your purchase contract. The planner lays out the deadlines between signing and recording, counts the federal Closing Disclosure deadline the way the rule counts business days, and lets you add every date to your calendar.
Your contract date
Binding agreement
The contract is accepted. Your deadlines run from here, counted the way your contract says.
Binding date + your due diligence days
Due diligence period ends
Inspections, survey questions and insurance quotes belong before this date. Check your contract for the exact end time.
After the attorney is engaged
Title search and commitment
The closing attorney’s office reviews the county records for the property and tells you what must be cleared before closing.
Supreme Court of Georgia, In re UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2, 277 Ga. 472 (2003), opinion text (PDF) hosted by the State Bar of Georgia, checked 2026-10-19
3 business days before closing
Closing Disclosure in your hands
Your lender must get the Closing Disclosure to you at least three business days before you sign. Compare it with your Loan Estimate.
CFPB, Ask CFPB: What is a Closing Disclosure? (page last modified Sept. 6, 2024), checked 2026-10-19
Before you send any money
Confirm wiring instructions by phone
Call the closing attorney’s office at a number you looked up yourself, never one from an email, before you wire funds.
CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
Your closing date
Closing
Documents are signed, funds are disbursed by the closing attorney, and the keys change hands as your contract provides.
After closing
Deed recorded in Lumpkin County
The deed and any security deed are recorded with the Lumpkin County Clerk of Superior Court, custodian of the county’s land records.
Lumpkin County, Ga. official website, Clerk of Superior Court page, checked 2026-10-19
April 1 after you move in
Homestead exemption deadline
You qualify for a tax year if you own and live in the home on January 1. Lumpkin County’s tax flyer lists April 1 as its filing date; state law now allows some later filings, so check with the county before relying on one.
Lumpkin County Tax Commissioner, '2026 Tax Information Flyer' ('Important Tax Information', Mike Young, Tax Commissioner), PDF (image; read visually), checked 2026-10-19
A planning aid, not legal advice. Your contract sets your deadlines and how its days are counted; your closing attorney and lender confirm the schedule. Business days here skip Sundays and federal legal holidays, as the Closing Disclosure rule does.
Your contract sets most of the dates
The binding agreement date, the due diligence period and the closing date all come from your purchase contract and any written amendments. How those days are counted matters. The Georgia Association of REALTORS general counsel has written about the GAR form:
How the GAR contract counts days (per GAR’s general counsel)
- According to GAR's general counsel, a due diligence period under the GAR purchase agreement is counted in calendar days unless the contract says business days, and a 10-day period ends at midnight on the tenth day after the Binding Agreement Date. Georgia Realtor magazine (Georgia Association of REALTORS), Summer 2021, 'Legal Ease' column by GAR General Counsel Seth G. Weissman, checked 2026-10-19
- GAR's general counsel writes that the GAR purchase agreement does not extend deadlines that fall on a weekend or federal holiday, except the closing date. Georgia Realtor magazine (Georgia Association of REALTORS), Summer 2021, 'Legal Ease' column by GAR General Counsel Seth G. Weissman, checked 2026-10-19
Read your own contract for the exact wording, and ask your agent if a date falls on a weekend or holiday. A date changes only by a written amendment both sides sign.
If you are borrowing: the loan disclosure deadlines
Two federal forms bracket your loan. The Loan Estimate comes soon after you apply. The Closing Disclosure comes just before you sign.
Federal timing rules for the loan forms
- The lender must provide a Loan Estimate within three business days of receiving your mortgage application. CFPB, Ask CFPB: What is a Loan Estimate? (page last modified Aug. 14, 2024), checked 2026-10-19
- Federal rules also require the Loan Estimate to be delivered or mailed no later than the seventh business day before closing. CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.19 (Regulation Z) and official interpretations, checked 2026-10-19
- Your lender must give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close on the mortgage loan. CFPB, Ask CFPB: What is a Closing Disclosure? (page last modified Sept. 6, 2024), checked 2026-10-19
- If the Closing Disclosure is not delivered in person, the borrower is considered to have received it three business days after it is delivered or mailed. CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.19 (Regulation Z) and official interpretations, checked 2026-10-19
Two details catch people out. First, “business day” in the Closing Disclosure rule is not Monday to Friday:
For the Closing Disclosure timing rule, a 'business day' means every calendar day except Sundays and federal legal public holidays, so Saturdays count. (CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6) (Regulation Z definitions), checked 2026-10-19)
Second, most changes to the Closing Disclosure do not push your closing back. Only three kinds do:
When a new waiting period starts
- A new three-business-day wait is required only if, before closing, the APR becomes inaccurate, the loan product changes, or a prepayment penalty is added. CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.19 (Regulation Z) and official interpretations, checked 2026-10-19
- Other changes to the Closing Disclosure do not restart the wait; the corrected form must be given at or before closing. CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.19 (Regulation Z) and official interpretations, checked 2026-10-19
Read the CFPB’s Closing Disclosure explainer and compare the form with your Loan Estimate the day it arrives. What each closing document does.
If you are paying cash
The loan forms and their waiting periods are lender rules for mortgage loans, so a cash purchase does not run on them. Your contract dates and your closing attorney’s schedule for the title work and the funds set the pace.
The week before closing: money and wires
Wire fraud aims at this week.
The CFPB’s warning and routine
- The CFPB warns that days before closing, scammers email buyers posing as their agent with last-minute changes to wiring instructions, and stolen funds can be very hard to recover. CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
- The CFPB advises writing down contact information for two trusted people, such as your real estate and settlement agents, who can confirm payment details. CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
- The CFPB says not to use phone numbers or links from an email, and to confirm with your trusted contacts using only the numbers you saved. CFPB, 'Buying a home? Beware of mortgage closing scams' one-page handout (PDF), checked 2026-10-19
Ask your closing attorney which forms of payment they accept. What to bring to closing builds a checklist for your role.
After you sign: recording in Lumpkin County
The sale is not on the public record until the deed is recorded. The transfer tax comes first, and a lender has its own deadline to record the security deed.
Recording rules
- The transfer tax must be paid before a deed can be recorded with the clerk of superior court, and the clerk attaches a certification that it was paid. Georgia Department of Revenue, Real Estate Transfer Tax page, checked 2026-10-19
- Georgia law says every deed conveying land is to be recorded in the office of the clerk of superior court in the county where the land is located. O.C.G.A. 44-2-1, via FindLaw Codes (marked 'Current as of March 28, 2024'), checked 2026-10-19
- A lender holding a long-term note secured by real estate must record the security instrument in the county where the property is located within 90 days. Georgia Department of Revenue, Intangible Recording Tax page, checked 2026-10-19
- The Lumpkin County Clerk of Courts is the custodian of the county's land and property records. Lumpkin County, Ga. official website, Clerk of Superior Court page, checked 2026-10-19
Recording and property taxes in Lumpkin County explains how to find your deed afterward.
The next January: homestead
To qualify for a tax year, you must own the home and live in it as your legal residence on January 1. Lumpkin County’s tax flyer lists April 1 as its filing date. State law now also allows filing through the 45-day appeal window on your assessment notice. Check with the Lumpkin County Tax Commissioner or Assessor before relying on a later date.
Homestead timing
- Georgia DOR says a homeowner generally gets a homestead exemption if they owned the home and it was their legal residence as of January 1 of the tax year. Georgia Department of Revenue, Property Tax Homestead Exemptions page, checked 2026-10-19
- Lumpkin County's 2026 tax flyer says homestead applications are filed with the County Tax Commissioner up to and including April 1, and applications received later may apply to the next year's tax bill. Lumpkin County Tax Commissioner, '2026 Tax Information Flyer' ('Important Tax Information', Mike Young, Tax Commissioner), PDF (image; read visually), checked 2026-10-19
- Georgia DOR says homeowners can now apply for homestead beyond the historic April 1 deadline, up to the end of the 45-day window to appeal their assessment notice. Georgia Department of Revenue, Property Tax Homestead Exemptions page, checked 2026-10-19
More from the Georgia Department of Revenue homestead page.
Questions buyers ask
How long does it take to close on a house in Georgia?
Your purchase contract sets the closing date. If you are financing, one federal deadline applies: your lender must give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close on the mortgage loan.
Source: CFPB, Ask CFPB: What is a Closing Disclosure? (page last modified Sept. 6, 2024)
Do Saturdays count as business days for the Closing Disclosure?
Yes. For the Closing Disclosure timing rule, a business day is every calendar day except Sundays and federal legal public holidays.
Source: CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6) (Regulation Z definitions)
Does any change to the Closing Disclosure delay closing?
No. A new three-business-day wait is required only if the APR becomes inaccurate, the loan product changes, or a prepayment penalty is added before closing.
Source: CFPB eRegulations, 12 CFR 1026.19 (Regulation Z) and official interpretations
Is due diligence counted in calendar days or business days?
According to GAR’s general counsel, a due diligence period under the GAR purchase agreement is counted in calendar days unless the contract says business days. Check your own contract.
What if a contract deadline falls on a weekend?
GAR’s general counsel writes that the GAR purchase agreement does not extend deadlines that fall on a weekend or federal holiday, except the closing date. Ask your agent how your contract reads.
Education, not legal advice. Statutes, fees and forms change; every rule on this page links to the law or office that sets it. Your closing attorney and your contract decide what applies to your closing.
