Dream Big, Grasshopper

My friend who's a professional historian and works with (among other things) applications for properties or districts to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places noted that we might be eligible for Georgia tax credits for renovations made to our house, since it is located in the Cobbham Historic District, on the National Register.

Looks like there is the possibility of receiving a Georgia tax credit of 25% of the cost of the work done, with a cap of $100,000, plus an 8-year property tax freeze. The Georgia Historic Preservation Division has a page of information. There's paperwork to be filled out before anything starts, and a small fee to pay. The minimum amount you have to spend on a projecy to qualify is $25,000.

It's good to know this now because we're in the process of getting some overall estimates about the house. It needs a roof, and related work on the soffit, and ridge vents. The front porch has multiple problems (foundation, decking, roof, columns). The entire back part of the house, which is an addition, was ill-founded, which is why the back door is off-kilter and the deck leans - they're not fully attached to anything. We don't know what the estimates will be, but I'm pretty sure it's more money than we have to spend; we certainly don't have $25,000 to spend right now. But maybe some day we'll be able to do a big renovation of the back of the house, take off the deck, put on a screened porch, fix the odd bathroom, etc. (Even if we won the lottery, though, I think we'd be hard-pressed to spend $400,000 and max out the tax credit!)