Cumming, GA Homes for Sale and Forsyth County Real Estate

City of Cumming or unincorporated Forsyth County?

Cumming is the seat of Forsyth County, and the city was first chartered in 1834. It is small next to the county around it: the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates count 12,494 people in Cumming and 282,805 in Forsyth County, so 270,311 county residents live outside city limits.

ZIP code	Share of its land inside Cumming city limits
30040	about 9.6%
30041	about 2.8%
30028	none

Shares come from the Census Bureau's 2020 ZIP-to-place relationship file; the city has annexed land since. The city's Planning and Zoning page has an October 2025 boundary map and a GIS map for checking an address. It matters because city police, city yard-debris pickup and city building permits stop at the line, and rental rules and lodging taxes differ on each side of it.

Cumming neighborhoods and places buyers ask about

• Vickery Village is a village center of shops, restaurants and the Forsyth County Family YMCA at 5855 South Vickery Street, which the county lists among its mixed-use gathering spots with Halcyon and Cumming City Center.
• Creekstone Estates is a 370-acre swim and tennis community of 343 custom homes in south Forsyth near GA 400, according to its homeowners association.
• Princeton Square is a master-planned neighborhood with two pools and two tennis courts, according to its HOA.
• Courtyards at Traditions is a 55+ age-restricted neighborhood of 42 homes at Majors Road and Highway 9 where the association handles lawn care; the builder reported in February 2026 that two homes remained.
• Polo Golf and Country Club is a private club at 6300 Polo Club Drive with a Joe Lee course and 10 lighted tennis courts.
• Windermere is in southeast Forsyth around the county's Windermere Park and the private Windermere Golf Club, a Davis Love III course built in 2000.

Downtown. Cumming City Center is a city-owned development on about 75 acres west of downtown, with about 117,000 square feet of retail and the Lou Sobh Amphitheater; the ribbon was cut on June 24, 2022. The city restored the 1923 Cumming Schoolhouse, listed on the National Register in 2000.

Property type	Check first
Swim and tennis or golf communities	HOA budget, rental limits, whether club membership is separate
Lake homes	Corps shoreline allocation and the dock permit
New construction	City or county permit, sewer or septic, impact fee
Acreage in north and west Forsyth	Zoning, septic approval, well or public water

Buying near Lake Lanier in Forsyth County

Forsyth County has more than 200 miles of Lake Lanier shoreline and runs nine lake day-use parks. Mary Alice Park, county-run since 2023 under a lease with the city and the Corps, has year-round boat access and a sandy beach. Bald Ridge Marina, off GA 400 exit 15, has served boaters since 1958 and has more than 600 wet slips.

• The shoreline is federal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns most of the land around the lake, and private lot lines do not extend onto it. Most of the government boundary is straight survey lines, so order a survey.
• Elevations are in feet above mean sea level. Full summer pool is 1,071 feet. The flood-control pool tops out at 1,085, and flowage easements below that line bar habitable structures.
• A dock permit does not come with the house. Permits last up to 5 years, cannot be transferred and become void at the sale. The buyer applies with the recorded deed, plat, dock and site drawings; the Corps estimates 6 to 8 weeks once the package is complete.
• New docks are allowed only on Limited Development shoreline, about 47% of the lake, with at least 82 feet of private frontage and one dock per household.

See our Lake Lanier guide and Lake Lanier homes for sale.

Property taxes: no city tax, county and school rates

The City of Cumming says it has levied no city property tax since 1986, and the state's 2025 millage digest lists the city at 0.000 mills. Homeowners in and around Cumming pay Forsyth County and school millage on 40% of fair market value.

Levy	2025 (adopted)	2026
County operations	4.791	4.727, adopted August 6, 2026
County fire district	2.805	2.805
County bond	0.300	0.300
Schools (operations plus bonds)	16.626	operations proposed at 15.208; final not yet posted

At the 2025 combined rate of 24.522 mills, a home with a $500,000 fair market value ($200,000 taxable) carries about $4,904 a year before exemptions.

Homestead. Forsyth's regular homestead takes $8,000 off assessed value for county operations and fire and freezes that county value at the base year. Owners 65 or older on January 1 pay no school tax, and a local cap limits the yearly rise in a homestead's taxable school value to 4% until 2035. Apply by April 1 or within your 45-day appeal window; the county's online portal opens for 2027 applications on December 21, 2026.

Schools

Forsyth County Schools serves the whole county, with high schools at Alliance Academy for Innovation, Denmark, East Forsyth, Forsyth Central, Lambert, North Forsyth, South Forsyth and West Forsyth. Forsyth Central and Alliance Academy are the two high schools inside Cumming city limits. Use the district's School Locator Map to see which schools serve an address. The University of North Georgia's Cumming Campus, opened in 2012, is at 300 Aquatic Circle.

Short-term rentals

• Unincorporated Forsyth County allows short-term rentals (stays under 30 days) only in A1 or Ag-Res zoning with an approved conditional use permit. The license is $250, a home on septic needs a health department performance evaluation and is capped at two guests per bedroom with 15 overnight guests at most, and a local contact must respond within three hours. The county reported in September 2026 that an update to these rules is underway.
• City of Cumming: we found no short-term rental article in the city code. Ask city planning before you buy to rent.
• Taxes: 8% hotel-motel tax in the unincorporated county, 5% in the city, plus Georgia's $5.00 per night fee.

Water, sewer, septic and new construction

Cumming Utilities serves about a third of the homes and businesses in Forsyth County, and says sewer is available to a limited number of customers; some locations need a grinder pump. Forsyth County Water and Sewer (770-781-2160) is the county's water and sewer department, and some homes are on private wells.

Septic permits come from Forsyth County Environmental Health, now at 2435 Freedom Parkway, Suite 2400 (770-781-6909). A county building permit for a new home needs the septic permit or proof of sewer and a water meter purchase, and a new single-family home pays a county impact fee of $9,290 (rates effective October 6, 2025). Inside city limits, the city's Planning and Zoning department issues permits.

Drive times from Cumming

Approximate drive times from downtown Cumming without traffic.

To	About	Miles
Alpharetta	20 minutes	15
Suwanee	25 minutes	13
Buford	25 minutes	13
Dawsonville	30 minutes	17
Sandy Springs	35 minutes	26
Gainesville	35 minutes	24
Canton	40 minutes	23
Dahlonega	40 minutes	28
Downtown Atlanta	50 minutes	38
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport	1 hour 10 minutes	49

Northside Hospital Forsyth, a 407-bed hospital, is at 1200 Northside Forsyth Drive. The Big Creek Greenway runs nearly 16 miles from south Forsyth to Sawnee Mountain Preserve, which protects more than 820 acres with over 11 miles of hiking.

How Gold Peach Realty helps Cumming buyers

Gold Peach Realty is a licensed Georgia brokerage based in Dahlonega, about 40 minutes from Cumming.

1. We start with how you will use the home: near GA 400, near the lake or on acreage.
2. We set up a live search and send new listings that match.
3. For each home you like, we confirm city limits, the school zones, sewer or septic records and any dock permit.
4. We line up inspections, negotiate and coordinate the closing.

New to the area? Read our Cumming, GA guide. Comparing nearby towns? See Dawsonville homes for sale, Buford homes for sale or Gainesville homes for sale, or go back to North Georgia homes for sale. Selling? Start with a home value request.

Frequently asked questions