What Is Included in the Price of Property in Georgia: A Turnkey Apartment or Just a Finished Shell?

The property market in Georgia combines different formats: conventional residential apartments, resort apartments, aparthotels, and branded residences.

So the same floor area and a similar price do not necessarily mean the same final investment cost. One property may be handed over fully ready for living and renting out, while another may have only basic finishes or come as a shell.

What Is Usually Included in the Price?

What is included depends on the developer and the specific project. Several main formats are available on the market:

• black frame;
• white frame;
• an apartment with completed interior finishes;
• a fully equipped turnkey property.

A black frame usually means a completed structural shell without full interior finishes.

A white frame may include utility connections, prepared walls, floor screed, installed windows, and an entrance door. However, the exact list of works must be checked in the contract, as specifications differ between developers.

An apartment with completed interior finishes may have finished floors, walls, a bathroom, lighting, and basic utilities. However, furniture, appliances, textiles, and decor are often paid for separately.

A turnkey format means that the property is already ready to live in or rent out. Even in this case, however, you need to check the specifications: exactly what the developer includes in the term “fully equipped.”

How Do Batumi and Tbilisi Differ?

In Batumi, a significant share of new developments is geared toward tourist and seasonal rentals. Apartments with completed interior finishes, furniture packages, and the option of handing the property over to a management company are therefore more common here.

In Tbilisi, the market is more focused on permanent residence and long-term rentals. Apartments are more often sold unfurnished, with owners arranging the interior work and furnishing themselves.

At the same time, both cities offer various formats. Serviced and branded residences are also emerging in Tbilisi, while Batumi offers conventional residential complexes without a mandatory hotel operating model.

What May Be Paid for Separately?

The advertised price may be supplemented by:

• interior finishing work;
• furniture and upholstered furniture;
• household appliances;
• lighting;
• textiles and decor;
• air conditioning;
• utility connections or account setup;
• service charges;
• costs of preparing the property for rental.

Some developers offer ready-made furniture packages. This simplifies getting the apartment ready, but the cost of such a package must be added to the total investment budget.

This is precisely why comparing projects solely by price per square metre is misleading. One property may cost less upfront but require significant spending on interior work and furnishing.

Who Will Manage the Property?

In Georgia, a management company is not always automatically part of a project’s operating model.

In a conventional residential complex, an owner can:

• live in the apartment themselves;
• rent it out long-term;
• manage daily rentals themselves;
• hand the property over to a separate management company.

In Batumi’s resort complexes, a management company may be suggested by the developer or already specified as part of the project concept. It may handle advertising, bookings, check-in, cleaning, maintenance, and financial reporting.

In branded residences and aparthotels, management may be handled by a professional hotel operator. In this case, it is important to check the contract term, fees, income distribution procedures, and the option to withdraw from the management programme.

Are There Restrictions on Personal Use?

In conventional residential projects, owners generally decide for themselves when to stay in the apartment and when to rent it out.

If the property is handed over to a management company on a voluntary basis, it is usually enough to give advance notice of the dates of personal stays.

Restrictions may apply in aparthotels, branded residences, or projects with a mandatory rental programme. Owners may be allocated a certain number of days per year for personal stays, or separate rules may apply during the peak tourist season.

Before purchasing, you therefore need to check:

• whether participation in the rental programme is mandatory;
• whether you can change the management company;
• how much time the owner can spend staying in their property;
• how personal use affects income;
• how much advance notice of arrival is required;
• which expenses the owner pays during their stay.

How Do You Correctly Calculate the Final Cost?

The final investment cost is not just the apartment’s listed price.

You need to add interior work, furniture, appliances, decor, and setup costs if they are not included in the initial offer.

The financial model must also account for:

• the management company’s fee;
• cleaning and maintenance expenses;
• monthly complex maintenance charges;
• utility costs;
• rental seasonality;
• vacancy periods between bookings;
• future refurbishment and furniture replacement.

Returns should be calculated based on the full amount needed to get the finished property ready for use, not just its purchase price.

Conclusion

In Georgia, there is no single standard for what is included with a property. A property may be sold as a shell, with completed interior finishes, or fully turnkey.

In Batumi, tourist apartments with furniture packages and the option of professional management are more common. Tbilisi has more conventional residential property, where interior work, furniture, and rental arrangements may remain the owner’s responsibility.

Most conventional residential projects have no restrictions on personal use. But in aparthotels and branded residences, the terms depend on the management agreement.

Before purchasing, we therefore check not only the starting price, but also the full specifications, setup costs, management model, and rules for using the property.

In the next article, we will explain what is included in property prices in other international markets and which additional expenses investors need to consider.

About the Authors

Vladyslava Kravchenko and Volodymyr Kharlov are co-founders of NESTRA REAL ESTATE GROUP and the team behind the analytics platform Nestra Insights.

They work with international investment property, analysing rental economics, development risks, property capitalisation, and investment exit strategies.