Georgia property purchase: the registry matters more than the passport

An overseas buyer can usually acquire a Georgian apartment in their own name, but that simplicity should not be confused with an absence of legal risk. The central question is not whether the buyer holds a Georgian passport. It is what property right is being transferred, how the asset is classified and what will appear in the National Agency of Public Registry after closing.

Before paying a deposit, obtain a current registry extract and confirm the cadastral identifier, registered owner and property description. Check for mortgages, seizures, restrictions and other registered rights. For an unfinished development, compare the developer’s sale contract, construction timetable, permitted project and the exact unit being promised. A marketing floor plan or booking form is not proof of title.

Georgia treats agricultural land differently from an ordinary apartment. The 2019 organic law provides narrow exceptions for foreign ownership, including inheritance and certain government-approved investment-plan cases. A buyer should verify the land designation rather than assume that every plot attached to a house can be purchased on the same basis as an urban apartment.

The Public Registry lists registration of a change in immovable-property rights at GEL 150 within four working days, GEL 270 in one working day or GEL 350 on the filing day. These are public-service charges, not a full estimate of legal review, translations, bank fees or other transaction costs.

Ownership does not itself confer residence. The Public Service Development Agency describes a short-term residence permit for qualifying non-agricultural property with assessed market value exceeding $150,000, and an investment route above $300,000. Its conditions require a qualifying title document and an assessment by an accredited valuer. The wording is “exceeding”: reaching the advertised threshold exactly is not enough.

Buyers considering Batumi can first narrow their location choice through the district profiles published by homeradar.ge, but should verify the particular property and documents independently. The prudent sequence is title search, legal and physical checks, clear contract, payment controls and registration; any residence-permit application is a separate process.

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