Richmond County Landlord Guide: Augusta’s Military, Medical, and Masters Economy — and What It Means for Landlords
Augusta is one of those Georgia cities that tends to be underestimated by people who haven’t spent time there. It is not Atlanta — it has no aspirations to be — but as a landlord market it possesses a combination of institutional anchors that many larger cities would envy: a major Army installation undergoing significant mission expansion, the state’s only public medical school and an associated university hospital system, and an annual golf tournament that is the most prestigious in the world and that turns the local short-term rental market into something genuinely extraordinary for one week every April. Understanding how to operate effectively across these three demand drivers is the foundation of good landlording in Richmond County.
Fort Eisenhower: The Cyber Army’s Home and Augusta’s Largest Employer
Formerly known as Fort Gordon, Fort Eisenhower was redesignated in 2023 to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The installation is home to the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence — the Army’s primary hub for cyber warfare, signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and information technology training. This mission has made Fort Eisenhower one of the most strategically important Army installations in the country and has driven a sustained influx of higher-ranking, technically credentialed military personnel whose Basic Allowance for Housing rates reflect Augusta’s housing market and whose income is among the most reliable available to any landlord.
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act governs all tenancies with active duty military personnel. SCRA gives servicemembers the right to terminate a lease early upon receipt of Permanent Change of Station orders, qualifying deployment orders of 90 days or more, or military discharge, with 30 days written notice. At Fort Eisenhower, PCS orders are a regular occurrence — the cyber and signals mission creates a constant rotation of personnel, and landlords should expect SCRA terminations as a normal operational reality rather than an exception. The practical response is to build the expectation of military turnover into the rental model: strong BAH income during occupancy, a clean and well-maintained unit that re-leases quickly, and a lease clause that clearly acknowledges SCRA rights to avoid any misunderstanding at the time of termination. The DMDC (Defense Manpower Data Center) online portal allows landlords to verify active duty status at application.
Augusta University, the Medical College of Georgia, and the Healthcare Rental Market
Augusta University is Georgia’s only public academic health center, and the Medical College of Georgia is the state’s only public medical school. The AU Health System operates Augusta University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Georgia, and a network of outpatient facilities that collectively make the institution one of the largest employers in the CSRA. For landlords, this translates to a deep and stratified rental demand pool — medical students, dental students, nursing students, physician assistants, pharmacy students, residents, fellows, attending physicians, researchers, and administrative staff all need housing near the AU Health Sciences campus on Laney Walker Boulevard.
Each tier of this tenant population has different screening characteristics. Medical students in their first and second years have no independent clinical income — they are on educational loans and/or living on family support, and standard income requirements cannot be met without a co-signer or guarantor. Third and fourth year students doing clinical rotations may begin earning small stipends. Residents — physicians who have completed medical school and are in hospital-based training programs — earn stipend salaries set by the hospital; AU Health’s residency stipends are publicly available and provide a clear income baseline. Attending physicians and AU faculty members have full professional salaries and are among the most straightforward high-income tenants to qualify. The key is calibrating screening expectations to the correct tier of the AU medical pipeline rather than applying a one-size-fits-all income standard.
The Masters Tournament and Augusta’s Short-Term Rental Market
The Masters Golf Tournament, held each April at Augusta National Golf Club, is one of the most economically significant recurring events in any mid-sized American city. Demand for short-term rental housing during Masters week — typically the first full week of April — is extraordinary, and rates achieved by Augusta homeowners and landlords during that week are unlike anything else in Georgia’s rental market outside of major one-time events. Rates of $1,000 to $5,000 or more per night for well-located properties are routinely achieved, and the demand vastly exceeds supply every year.
Landlords with long-term tenants need to address Masters week carefully in the lease. Many Augusta landlords include a lease provision that allows the landlord to require the tenant to vacate for Masters week (typically seven to ten days) in exchange for a rent credit or compensation — an arrangement that tenants often accept because the landlord’s Masters week rental income can be substantial. This arrangement must be in the lease from the start; a landlord who attempts to require a sitting tenant to vacate for Masters week without a lease provision authorizing it is on very uncertain legal ground. For landlords operating short-term rental properties full-time, confirm current Augusta-Richmond County STR licensing requirements, which have evolved over the past several years, before listing.
Richmond County Dispossessory and Magistrate Court
Dispossessory proceedings in Richmond County are filed at the Magistrate Court, located in the Augusta Judicial Center at 735 James Brown Boulevard. Georgia’s standard dispossessory process applies: written demand for possession, filing at Magistrate Court, seven-day tenant answer period, and either default judgment or hearing. For military tenants, SCRA provides procedural protections in eviction proceedings — a stay may be available to active duty servicemembers who can demonstrate military service materially affects their ability to defend. In practice, genuine Fort Eisenhower nonpayment evictions are uncommon because BAH income is reliable; more frequent are post-PCS holdover situations where a departing soldier has not vacated by the lease end date. Clear lease provisions specifying move-out obligations, combined with a signed acknowledgment that the tenant’s SCRA termination notice has been received and the effective termination date established, are the best tools for preventing holdover disputes.
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