You’ve spent hours researching the best places to buy property in the Peach State, or you’ve prepped your empty guest room for a new tenant, but there’s just one little problem: You have no idea how to be a landlord in Georgia.
Don’t worry; no matter what has led you to this point, we can help you achieve your rental dreams. As you might already know, you can own and operate a rental property in numerous ways. And, though the process might seem daunting at first glance, it all boils down to doing your research and having the right tools.
Keep reading to find out how you can rent out property in the state of Georgia.
Marketing. Applications. Leases. Payments.
Research The Market
Let’s start with the basics: location. If you want to learn how to be a landlord in Georgia, research local rental markets thoroughly. You’d be surprised by just how much you can learn about different locations, even the area where you grew up. And for those who want to purchase a remote rental property, research is all the more crucial.
The research process may take longer than you think. For example, you might stumble upon a seemingly ideal neighborhood in north Georgia, only to learn that population growth—and thus, the amount of potential tenants—has stalled. The economy around your rental property is also crucial, as you’ll struggle to find high-quality tenants in a region with limited job opportunities.
Then, there’s the legal aspect of rental real estate to keep in mind. Check whether your desired municipality or county requires landlords to obtain rental licenses, which can add more stress and fees to your plate.
Other factors to remember are real estate market trends, a property’s proximity to entertainment options, and affordability.
TurboTenant’s handy rent estimate calculator can help determine whether you’ve picked a property with a high rental potential.
Do Some Math
Beyond deciding where to buy your rental property, you should also complete some calculations on the property itself. Doing so means you must ensure that purchasing a particular property makes financial sense.
Does the property need substantial renovations? Will the property provide enough return on investment? Will tenants in the area have enough income to pay rent? You should ask these questions when looking at a potential rental investment.
To make sure you address the most critical elements as you learn how to be a landlord in Georgia, TurboTenant offers a variety of calculators. You can utilize the rental yield calculator to find out how to maximize your profits as a landlord or explore options like the mortgage refinance calculator to determine the best ways to finance your rental property.
That’s just the start of what TurboTenant has to offer, too. For more calculators, including cap rate and cashflow checkers, take a look at TurboTenant’s landlord toolbox.
Read Up On Local Landlord-Tenant Law
In addition to federal landlord-tenant laws, such as the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Georgia has its own set of landlord-tenant laws. Landlords must stay current on these regulations to ensure full legal compliance.
We’ll discuss a few of the most important local rental laws here:
Security deposit rules: Georgia law prohibits landlords from charging more than two months of rent as a security deposit (Ga. Code § 44-7-30.1). Additionally, landlords must store the deposit in a separate escrow account and provide the location to tenants (Ga. Code § 44-7-31).
Entry requirements: In the state of Georgia, landlords do not have to provide tenants with notice before accessing the dwelling unit. However, most landlords consider it good practice to notify the tenant between 24 and 48 hours before entering the dwelling unit (except in cases of emergency, when immediate access is always allowed).
Eviction laws: Landlords in Georgia can evict tenants for nonpayment of rent, violating lease terms, or illegal activity on the premises. To begin the eviction process, landlords may issue a 3-day Notice to Cure or Quit or an unconditional Notice to Quit, depending on the activity that led to the eviction.
Rent control: As of 2025, rent control does not exist in Georgia. In fact, Georgia lawmakers have passed regulations prohibiting municipal governments from enacting rent control (Ga. Code § 44-7-19). As a result, landlords in Georgia have greater flexibility to increase rent as they see fit.
Lease breaking: Generally speaking, if a tenant breaks a lease before the lease term is up, they will be responsible for paying rent for the duration of the original lease term. However, tenants may terminate a lease early in some instances, such as starting active-duty military service (Ga. Code § 44-7-22) or if they are a victim of stalking, civil violence, or criminal violence (Ga. Code § 44-7-23).
Use Property Management Software
Once you know where and when you want to buy your rental property and become a landlord, you still have plenty of work ahead. Luckily, even after you’ve learned how to be a landlord in Georgia, you don’t have to do everything yourself. Property management software can streamline tedious processes like document storage and financial management.
Beyond these benefits, TurboTenant’s software can also help you consolidate all the details of your work as a landlord, such as rent collection and tax documentation, in one location. Doing so can help you comply with all applicable rental laws, saving you valuable time and money.
Last but not least, TurboTenant facilitates positive relationships between landlords and tenants. We provide a communication hub that makes it easy for landlords to chat with tenants, as well as rental advertising and lease management that can lead to increased occupancy rates.
Use a Legally Compliant Lease
Every landlord must use a legally compliant lease to oversee the rental relationship. If you choose not to use a written lease, you may set yourself up for future issues, such as conflicts with tenants over the lease terms and failure to comply with landlord-tenant laws.
However, you can’t use any old lease agreement off the internet to run your rental property. You should have a reliable, state-specific lease ready before you even start advertising the property.
TurboTenant’s lease agreement templates will help you quickly and easily create a legal lease agreement specific to Georgia. Although these templates are available to those who create a free account, you can access unlimited leases and e-signatures if you upgrade to one of our paid plans.
Market Your Property
With that lease in hand, it’s time to advertise your rental property. To make your listing as competitive as possible, you can use TurboTenant to advertise your rental property. We offer features such as AI-powered listing builders, and listings can be cross-posted to dozens of different websites with the click of a button.
Additionally, TurboTenant allows landlords to manage potential leads easily. And did we mention that the rental advertising feature is free?
One quick note: Never use discriminatory language in rental ads, such as one discouraging people from a specific background from applying. Doing so violates the federal Fair Housing Act and could lead to civil and financial penalties for landlords.
Collect Rental Applications Digitally
While paper applications have stood the test of time, managing online applications is much easier than you might think. You can put things in motion by sending an email or text to interested applicants, saving you valuable time and money — no need to print out pages of applications.
For those who don’t know, rental applications are forms that collect critical information about potential tenants, including eviction history, employment status, and credit history.
After you send out your applications, TurboTenant’s rental application center also allows landlords to manage all of their leads in one easily accessible location without juggling piles of physical paperwork.
Screen Tenants Thoroughly
Whether you’re selecting your first tenant or your fiftieth, you should always conduct thorough tenant screenings. These background checks will help you learn more about the person or people living in your rental property before they move in.
During the screening process, review details such as past evictions and a tenant’s credit score. However, according to the Fair Housing Act, landlords must use the same screening process for each tenant, meaning no extra questions or background check requests for individuals from a protected class.
For a hassle-free process, try TurboTenant’s tenant screening feature. Paid for by the tenant, our reports cover crucial factors such as criminal background checks, financial information, and eviction history against more than 27 million records.
To verify a tenant’s income, upgrade to a premium account. Doing so will allow you to check the tenant’s actual income against the figure they provide in their application.
Lock Down Maintenance Requests
According to Georgia’s (and the federal government’s) warranty of habitability, landlords must maintain their rental property in a safe and habitable condition. Doing so will also improve tenant satisfaction with the property, which may lead to lease renewals in the future.
Ideally, landlords should secure property maintenance before renting out a property. On the bright side, TurboTenant can help with this aspect of running a rental property.
With landlord software, tenants can submit maintenance requests digitally, allowing landlords to manage all maintenance issues in one place, which can prevent confusion and the need to search through emails or texts with a tenant.
If you want to avoid issues surrounding rental property maintenance, upgrade to Maintenance Plus. This feature puts all the responsibility of receiving, responding to, and handling maintenance on TurboTenant’s thoroughly vetted team, who will check in with the landlord only if necessary.
Collect Rent Online
Collecting rent in person or by check can be a major hassle, especially for first-time or less-experienced landlords. You might have to take extra trips to the bank to cash checks or even need to confront tenants in person about overdue rent payments.
However, you can thoroughly streamline the process by collecting rent online. Not only will this simplify rent collection for the landlord, but tenants can also enjoy the ease of making rent payments online. TurboTenant’s rent collection feature allows for autopay, automated rent reminders, and automatic late fees should a tenant’s rent payment become overdue.
Once the tenant pays their rent, TurboTenant will automatically process their payment and enter it into your dashboard. Landlords can easily find out who has paid and who hasn’t, all in one easy-to-navigate location.
Streamline Rental Property Accounting
Financial accounting might not be the most glamorous part of rental property ownership, but it is essential nonetheless. Landlords must adequately account for all income, revenue, and expenses to maintain accurate and thorough financial records.
Though accounting software is fairly commonplace, you should use software built specifically with rental property owners in mind. To that end, TurboTenant Accounting replaces less suitable alternatives like QuickBooks and disorganized spreadsheets.
TurboTenant’s accounting feature makes it easy to file taxes, too. Our software includes options to record cash flow, expenses, revenue, profit and loss balance sheets, and lease tracking.
TurboTenant Makes DIY Landlording Easy
If you’re wondering how to be a landlord in Georgia, look no further than TurboTenant’s suite of helpful features. Though you may have to do some of your own research to determine where and when to buy a rental property in Georgia, TurboTenant makes it easy to become a landlord all on your own, saving you time and money in the process.
There’s no need to lose your rental income to a property manager. Sign up for a free TurboTenant account and let our landlord software handle the rest.
