Selling on Tybee is not the same as selling in Savannah. Three things make it different: the flood paperwork a buyer’s lender will want, a rental permit situation the city is actively rewriting, and a state withholding rule that catches owners who live somewhere else. None of them are hard, but all three are slow if you start them after you have an offer.
Key Takeaways
– Tybee publishes a list of addresses that already have an elevation certificate on file. Check yours before you list.
– The city revised its short-term rental ordinances in August 2026 and has not published the new process, so do not promise a buyer that a permit transfers.
– Georgia withholds 3 percent on sales by nonresidents, with a principal-residence exemption.
– FEMA rates Tybee Class 5 in the Community Rating System, a 25 percent discount on flood premiums.
What paperwork should you gather before listing?
Start with the elevation certificate, because it drives the buyer’s insurance quote and it may already exist. The city says so directly: “The following link contains the addresses with a Flood Elevation Certificate available on file and for download with the City of Tybee Island” (City of Tybee Island).
Check that list first. If your address is on it, you have the most useful document in a coastal transaction for free. If it is not, commissioning one takes a surveyor and time, and that conversation belongs before an inspection period rather than during one.
The reason it matters to the buyer is money. FEMA lists Tybee as Class 5 in the Community Rating System, worth a 25 percent discount on National Flood Insurance Program premiums (FEMA, CRS eligible communities, effective April 1, 2026). The certificate is what lets a buyer’s agent turn that rating into a quote.
One more thing before you negotiate a closing date: “There is a 30-day waiting period for most flood insurances,” and “Most homeowner policies do not cover flooding” (City of Tybee Island). A buyer who finds that out late can push a closing.
What if you have renovated?
Then the 50 percent rule is the question to answer honestly. Tybee states that “Work which involves more than 50% renovation or repair will subject the home to all flood safety and FEMA building requirements,” and that the city’s “affidavit for Reconstruction/Improvement will be required for any project that could meet or exceed the 50% cumulative substantial damage/substantial improvement threshold.”
Note the word cumulative. Several projects over several years can add up, and the city also states a “one (1) foot freeboard requirements above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE).” If you have done significant work, gather the permits now. A buyer’s lender or insurer asking for them mid-contract, when the city’s records and your memory disagree, is a bad week.
Can you tell a buyer the rental permit transfers?
Not right now, and this is the biggest change for Tybee sellers this year. The city’s own page says: “As of August 2026, the City of Tybee Island has revised its ordinances governing short-term vacation rentals and will implement a new permitting process for such properties in 2027,” and adds “Please stand by as city staff set up the application process under the new regulations” (City of Tybee Island).
The published code does not settle it either. The Tybee code of ordinances on the municipal code library is “Codified through S.B. 340, enacted May 1, 2025,” and carries its own warning that it “may not reflect the most current legislation adopted by the Municipality” (Municode). In other words, the version you can read online predates the revision.
The consequence for a seller is specific. If your property’s value depends on rental income, do not represent that a permit carries over. Get the city’s written answer for your address, then price and disclose from that rather than from what was true last season. Our Tybee Island buying guide covers the same question from the buyer’s side, which is what a well-advised buyer will ask you.
Will Georgia withhold tax from your proceeds?
If you are not a Georgia resident, yes, by default. The Department of Revenue’s guidance states that “O.C.G.A. Section 48-7-128 provides for income tax withholding at a rate of 3 percent on sales or transfers of real property and associated tangible personal property by nonresidents of Georgia,” applicable to any sale “occurring on or after January 1, 1994” (Georgia Department of Revenue).
That definition is broad. It states that “nonresidents include individuals, trusts, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, and unincorporated organizations.” If you hold the house in an LLC, read that line twice.
The base is the price, not the profit, unless you act. “The rate of withholding is 3 percent of the sales price. An alternative for calculating the withholding is to use the seller’s gain. In order to apply the withholding to the gain, the seller must complete form IT-AFF2 (Affidavit of Seller’s Gain) attesting to the amount of the taxable gain. The seller is responsible for the calculation of the gain.” On an appreciated beach property, the difference between 3 percent of the price and 3 percent of the gain is real money.
There are exemptions. “If the property qualifies as a principal residence under the Internal Revenue Code, the exemption from withholding applies for the gain that is excluded from Federal AGI.” Others cover small transactions, including where “the purchase price is less than $20,000.” And if the math outruns the cash, “the buyer must withhold and remit only the net proceeds otherwise payable to the seller.”
One caveat on that source: the department publishes it as archived web content revised in 2011, so confirm the current forms and figures with your closing attorney before closing.
What about federal tax on the gain?
The main-home exclusion is the provision most Tybee sellers ask about, and it turns on how you used the house. The IRS allows you to exclude “$250,000 of gain from the sale of your home from your income,” an amount “increased to $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly” (IRS Publication 523).
The test is time-based. You must have “owned the home for at least 24 months (2 years) out of the last 5 years leading up to the date of sale” and have “owned the home and used it as your residence for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years.” A property rented for most of the last five years is a different conversation, and one for your tax advisor rather than your agent.
Frequently asked questions
Does my Tybee home already have an elevation certificate?
Possibly. The City of Tybee Island publishes a downloadable list of addresses that have a flood elevation certificate on file with the city. Check that list before paying a surveyor for a new one. If your address is not on it, commission one early, because it drives the buyer’s flood insurance quote.
Does a short-term rental permit transfer to my buyer?
Do not assume it does. The city revised its short-term vacation rental ordinances in August 2026, says a new permitting process arrives in 2027, and has not yet published the application process. The code available online is codified only through May 2025. Get the city’s written answer for your specific address.
How much will Georgia withhold if I live out of state?
Three percent, by default on the sales price rather than the gain, under O.C.G.A. 48-7-128. You can apply it to the gain instead by filing an affidavit of seller’s gain, and a principal residence excluded from federal adjusted gross income is exempt. Confirm current forms with your closing attorney.
Do I owe federal tax on the profit?
Possibly not. The IRS allows an exclusion of up to $250,000 of gain on a main home, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, if you owned the home at least 24 months of the previous five years and used it as your residence for at least 24 of those months. A long-term rental changes the analysis.
Getting the order right
The sequence that saves the most time is simple. Check the city’s elevation certificate list, pull your permits if you have renovated, get the city’s written position on your rental registration, and ask your closing attorney about withholding before you price the house rather than after.
If you want a valuation that reflects the flood rating, the certificate and the permit picture rather than a generic estimate, start with what your home is worth, see our Tybee Island community page for the market around you, or get in touch and we will work through the list with you.