Mortgage lender in Hamilton County, TN

Buying in Hamilton County

Hamilton County, with its county seat in Chattanooga, also takes in East Ridge, Red Bank, Soddy-Daisy, Collegedale, Signal Mountain and Ooltewah. Hamilton County files are handled by Steve Umansky, Sr. Branch Manager, NMLS #61764, who is licensed in Tennessee, from our Southampton, PA office.

2026 conforming limit

$832,750

2026 FHA limit

$541,287 (one-unit, set by HUD)

Above the conforming limit

Jumbo pricing

Closing commonly handled by

title company

State housing agency

Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) (general information; not a participating lender)

Your officer

Steve Umansky, NMLS #61764

2026 limits for a one-unit property. Hamilton County is not designated a high-cost area for conforming loans, so the national baseline of $832,750 applies. Sources: FHFA conforming loan limit values and HUD FHA mortgage limits.

Hamilton County: Chattanooga, the river and the mountains

Chattanooga sits in a river valley between ridges, and the setting shapes the housing. Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain are higher-priced communities on the plateaus; North Chattanooga, St. Elmo and the Southside are older in-town neighborhoods; and Ooltewah, Collegedale and East Brainerd are where most new construction is.

Many residents work across the state line in Georgia, or live in Georgia and buy here; the property’s state decides the closing rules, and the income counts normally. Along the Tennessee River and its creeks, some properties are in a mapped flood zone, so we order the flood determination early. On the mountains, steep lots, private roads and septic systems are all worth an early look.

Hamilton County by the numbers

Median home value

$312,800 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25077)

Typical property tax

About 0.62% of home value a year: median tax bill $1,925 on a median value of $312,800 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25103)

Transfer tax

Realty transfer tax of 37 cents per $100 of the price (Tennessee Department of Revenue, recordation taxes)

Largest communities

Chattanooga, East Ridge, Soddy-Daisy, Middle Valley (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B01003)

The county median home value is $312,800. The 2026 one-unit conforming loan limit here is $832,750 and the FHA limit is $541,287.

Census figures are survey estimates for owner-occupied homes, not appraisals or tax quotes. We use the actual tax bill for the property when we quote.

Closing and programs in Tennessee

Closings in Tennessee are typically handled by a title company. The closing process, state transfer and recording taxes and first-time buyer programs are covered on the Tennessee page. Property taxes are set locally; we take the figure from the tax record for the address.

Questions Hamilton County buyers ask

Limits shown are the 2026 FHFA and HUD figures for Hamilton County. Loan limits, tax rates and agency programs are set by third parties and change. Not a commitment to lend.