Buy Property in Georgia

The one thing that governs everything else

Georgia has the most open property market for foreigners anywhere in this region, and it is not close. There is no permit to apply for, no local partner to find, no minimum investment, no restriction by nationality and no separate category of “foreigner-only” zone. A non-resident buys non-agricultural property on the same legal footing as a Georgian citizen, and the title is normally registered within one working day. Entry into our portfolio starts at $45,276.

And then there is the thing the brochures leave out. Every project on this page is in Batumi or Gonio. Not one is in Tbilisi. That is not an oversight — it reflects what we actually represent, and it matters enormously, because Batumi is a seasonal Black Sea resort market and Tbilisi is a year-round capital city. They behave completely differently as investments.

You will see 10–12% gross yields quoted for Batumi. Those are short-let figures, and they rest on a season that runs roughly June to September. A four-month season carrying a twelve-month yield is a very different proposition from a Tbilisi long-let at a lower headline number but 12 months of occupancy. Batumi can be an excellent buy. It is simply not the always-on rental market the yield tables imply, and you should know which one you are buying into before you sign.

Georgia at a glance

Two lines in that table do the heavy lifting. No purchase tax and one-day registration is a genuinely unusual combination — in most markets you budget 3–8% and several weeks. And agricultural land is the one real wall: if a plot is classified agricultural, a foreign individual generally cannot own it, whatever the seller says. For apartments and resort developments, which is all of what follows, this never arises.

All 12 projects, by price

Eight of our twelve are quoted as a total entry price. The four Wyndham Gonio schemes are quoted per square metre, which is normal for that developer but makes a straight comparison misleading — so they are separated out below rather than mixed into the ladder.

The four priced per square metre

We are showing you the arithmetic rather than a headline because the headline would be dishonest. A “$2,257” figure next to a villa is a rate, not a price, and quoting it as an entry point — as aggregator sites routinely do — understates the real cost by two orders of magnitude. Ask us for the current unit list and a total for the specific apartment you want; that is the only number that means anything.

The price ladder, read properly

Ignore the per-square-metre schemes for a moment and the picture is simple. Batumi apartments in our portfolio run from $45,276 to $83,000. That is a remarkably tight band — under two times from bottom to top — and it tells you something real: this is a market of mid-rise coastal apartment blocks aimed at the same buyer, not a market with a genuine luxury tier above it.

The Wyndham Gonio schemes are the exception, and they are a different product: branded, lower density, 15 km south of the city at Gonio, and priced accordingly. If you want the Batumi equivalent of a prime purchase, that is where it currently sits.

What you will not find here at any price is a Tbilisi apartment, an old-town restoration, a vineyard in Kakheti or a mountain property in Svaneti. Those markets exist and some are excellent. They are simply not what we represent.

Batumi and Gonio — what you are actually buying into

Batumi is the capital of the Adjara Autonomous Republic and Georgia’s second city, a Black Sea port that reinvented itself over the last fifteen years as a resort and casino destination. The skyline you see in photographs — the Alphabetic Tower, the Courtyard Marriott’s arched oval — is genuinely new. Seven of our twelve projects sit in the city itself, within reach of the boulevard and the beach.

Gonio is roughly 15 km south, towards the Turkish border, and is a quieter, lower-rise stretch of coast built around the Roman fort of the same name. The four Wyndham schemes are here. Sea, mountains behind, far less nightlife — a different holiday and a different tenant.

Both share the same fundamental: the Black Sea season. Batumi is busy from roughly June to September, quiet either side, and genuinely low in midwinter. Everything about the rental case follows from that sentence.

Where Tbilisi fits, and why it is not on this page

Tbilisi is the year-round market. It has the professional tenants, the diplomatic and NGO demand, the universities, the tech and outsourcing employers, and — critically — twelve months of occupancy rather than four. Headline gross yields are typically lower than Batumi’s short-let figures, but they are earned across the whole year and are far less exposed to a bad season, a border issue or a weather event.

If your priority is steady long-let income, Tbilisi is the more logical Georgian market, and we would rather say so than sell you a Batumi apartment on a Tbilisi thesis. If your priority is a coastal apartment you will use yourself and let seasonally, Batumi is the right market and this page is the right page.

A note on our own listings. Six of the twelve projects below are currently tagged to both Batumi and Tbilisi in our system. That tagging is wrong — all twelve are Batumi or Gonio properties, and the Gonio schemes are about 370 km from Tbilisi. We are correcting it. If you arrived here from a Tbilisi search, that is why.

Ownership: what a foreigner can and cannot buy

Can: apartments, houses, commercial premises, and non-agricultural land, in your own name, with full freehold title and no ceiling on value or quantity. No residency is required to buy. No nominee, no local company, no permit.

Cannot, as a rule: agricultural land. Georgia restricted foreign ownership of agricultural land, and while the framework has been through several revisions, the practical position for a foreign individual is that agricultural plots are off the table. If a plot is being sold to you as “land with a house on it”, get the cadastral classification in writing before you pay anything.

This is the single legal check that matters in Georgia, and it is the reason resort apartments are so straightforward here: an apartment in a registered building simply does not raise the question.

What it costs to buy

Georgia is genuinely cheap to transact in. Compare that with roughly 8% on an Omani new build or the fee stack in Dubai and the difference is material on a $60,000 purchase — it is close to a free transaction by regional standards.

Tax, in plain terms

Annual property tax. Georgia taxes property annually only where household income exceeds a statutory threshold; below it there is no liability. Above it, rates run up to 1% of assessed value. Most foreign owners of a single holiday apartment fall outside it, but this depends on your total declared household income, not on the property.

Rental income. An individual letting residential property can elect a flat rate on gross rent — commonly 5% — without deductions. It is simple and low, and it is one of the genuine attractions of the market.

Capital gains. Residential property held for more than two years before sale is generally exempt for individuals. Sell inside two years and a gain becomes taxable. If you are buying off-plan with an eye to flipping on completion, that two-year line is the number to plan around.

None of this is a substitute for advice from a Georgian tax adviser, and thresholds move. Treat the table above as orientation, not as a filing position.

Residency

Georgia has for several years offered a route to a residence permit tied to property ownership above a set value. The threshold has been revised upward before — it was raised substantially in 2019 — and the conditions attaching to renewal and to permanent status have changed with it.

Because of that, we will not print a figure here and let it go stale. What we will say plainly: most of the apartments on this page sit below the level at which the property route has historically been available, and the Wyndham Gonio schemes are the ones most likely to clear it. If residency is the point of the purchase rather than a bonus, tell us that first — it changes which projects are worth your time. Our current position is on getting a residency permit in Georgia.

Yields, and the seasonality problem

Batumi short-let gross yields are commonly quoted in the 8–12% range. Taken at face value that is among the highest in the region. Three things sit underneath it.

The season is short. Peak demand runs roughly June to September. A 10% gross figure is usually built on strong summer nightly rates annualised — it is not 10% earned evenly across twelve months.

Gross is not net. Short-let means management, cleaning, linen, listing commission, utilities and higher wear. On a seasonal coastal apartment the gap between gross and net is wider than on a long let, not narrower.

Supply keeps arriving. Batumi has been building steadily for a decade. New stock competes directly with yours for the same four months.

Adjust for all three and a realistic net expectation is meaningfully below the headline. That is not an argument against buying — a well-located Batumi apartment at $55,000 can still perform respectably, and the low transaction costs and low tax help a great deal. It is an argument against buying on the headline.

Off-plan or completed?

Most of what we list is delivered or near delivery, with completion dates around 2025. Off-plan in Georgia carries the same risk it carries anywhere and one local nuance: developer regulation is lighter than in the Gulf, and there is no equivalent of Dubai’s escrow regime protecting instalments. Buying from an established developer with completed buildings you can walk through matters more here than it does in a market with statutory escrow.

Every developer on this page has delivered in Batumi before. That is deliberate.

The risks, stated plainly

Concentration. One city, one coast, one season. If Batumi has a poor year, everything on this page has a poor year together.

Geopolitics. Georgia sits in a contested neighbourhood and has unresolved territorial disputes. This is priced in — it is part of why entry is $45,000 rather than $150,000 — but it is real and it does not disappear because a brochure omits it.

Currency. Prices are quoted in USD, rents are often collected in lari. That mismatch is yours to carry.

Developer risk. Lighter regulation, no escrow. Diligence on the developer is not optional.

Exit liquidity. The resale market for foreign-owned Batumi apartments is thinner than the new-build market. Plan on holding rather than trading, and remember the two-year capital-gains line.

Georgia, Oman or the UAE?

Georgia wins decisively on cost of entry, cost of transacting and freedom to own. It loses on depth, on seasonality and on the sheer amount of capital protection built into the Gulf markets. For a first overseas purchase at a modest ticket, that trade is often worth making. For a large allocation, read Oman and the UAE alongside it.

Seven checks before you buy in Georgia

1. Confirm the land classification. Non-agricultural, in writing, from the cadastre — not from the seller.
2. Get a total price, not a rate. Especially on the Wyndham Gonio schemes, where the quoted figure is per square metre.
3. Check what “furnished” includes. It varies widely between Batumi developers and is often a separate package.
4. Ask for the developer’s completed buildings. Then go and look at one.
5. Model the season, not the year. Build your rental case on four strong months, and treat anything beyond that as upside.
6. Establish the management arrangement in writing. Who lets it, at what commission, and who pays for the cleaning between guests.
7. If residency is the goal, verify the current threshold first. It has moved before and most of this page sits below it.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners buy property in Georgia?

Yes, freely. Non-agricultural property may be bought by foreign individuals on the same basis as citizens, in their own name, with no permit, no minimum value and no residency requirement. Agricultural land is the exception and is generally closed.

What is the cheapest property you have in Georgia?

Mardi Hills in Batumi, from $45,276.

Does buying property in Georgia give residency?

There is a property-linked residence permit route, but it applies above a value threshold that has been revised upward over time. Most apartments on this page sit below it. Confirm the current rule before buying for that purpose.

Do I pay tax when I buy?

There is no purchase or transfer tax in Georgia. You pay a modest registration fee and, if you use one, a lawyer.

What rental yield can I expect in Batumi?

Gross figures of 8–12% are widely quoted for short lets. Net returns are materially lower once management, cleaning, commission and a four-month season are taken into account. Model conservatively.

Is Batumi or Tbilisi better for investment?

Tbilisi for steady year-round long lets; Batumi for a coastal property you will use and let seasonally. They are different assets. We currently represent Batumi and Gonio only.

Can I sell without paying capital gains tax?

Residential property held more than two years is generally exempt for individuals. Selling inside two years brings the gain into charge.

Is it safe to buy off-plan in Georgia?

It carries more risk than in the Gulf because there is no statutory escrow protecting your instalments. Buy from developers with completed, occupied buildings you can inspect.

The verdict

Georgia is the easiest country in this region for a foreigner to actually own property in, and one of the cheapest to buy in and hold. No permit, no purchase tax, one-day registration, 5% on rental income and nothing on a gain after two years — that is a genuinely good structure, and it is not marketing.

What it is not is a large, deep, year-round rental market. What we represent is twelve coastal projects in one city on a four-month season, from $45,276. Bought for what it is — a low-cost coastal apartment you will use, let in summer and hold for years — it makes a great deal of sense. Bought on a 12% yield headline, it will disappoint.

Tell us which of those two you are, and we will point you at the right three projects rather than all twelve.

Related searches on this site

By area: Batumi. By type: apartments, studios, furnished apartments, beach houses, townhouses. By subject: legal checks before signing, residency permits, living in Georgia as a foreigner.