An apartment in Tbilisi can be sold twice, mortgaged to a bank the seller never mentions, or sit inside a building that was never signed off. All of it is on the record, in Georgian, on a document most buyers never read past the first line. Property due diligence in Tbilisi is a paperwork job, not a hunch. Here is what to pull, what to read on it, and what to do about a bad answer.
Ownership here is the register, not the contract
A signed sale contract makes you nobody's owner in Georgia. Article 183 of the Civil Code requires a written agreement plus registration of the buyer's right in the Public Registry. Until the entry changes, the seller is still the owner on paper.
That cuts both ways, and it is why checking a property here is cheap. Article 6(1) of the Law on the Public Registry makes registered data and the retained documentation public and available to any person for viewing. You can check a stranger's apartment before you ever meet them.
The four registers you have to search
Article 4(1) of the same law defines the Public Registry as a collection of separate registers. Buyers who ask for "the extract" get the property one and stop, which is how a seizure gets missed.
| Register | What it records | What it costs you if you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| Immovable Property Rights | Ownership, mortgages, leases, easements, cadastral code | A live bank mortgage you never saw |
| Public-law Restrictions | Seizures and prohibitions on administering rights | A seizure blocks the transfer on filing day |
| Tax Liens and Mortgages | Tax liens over things and intangible property | Revenue Service claims rank ahead of yours |
| Entrepreneurs and Legal Entities | Directors, shareholders, signing authority | A company seller signs through someone unauthorised |
Article 19(1) defines the restrictions register as holding data on seizures and prohibitions of administering rights, and Article 20(1) covers tax liens. The agency issues restrictions, liens and leases information separately from the property extract. Order both.
Every registered unit has a cadastral code, and it is the only reliable key. Tbilisi addresses repeat, get renamed and get transliterated three ways. An agent who will not give you the code before a viewing does not have it.
Reading the extract line by line
The extract is short. Eight of its lines carry the whole transaction, and nobody tells you which eight.
| Line on the extract | What good looks like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Cadastral code | Matches the unit and floor you viewed | Covers a different unit, or the whole building |
| Registered owner | The person whose passport is in front of you | A relative, a company, or a different spelling |
| Legal basis of ownership | A purchase registered years ago | A recent inheritance, gift or court decision |
| Mortgage or pledge | Empty | Any bank entry, including one the seller calls repaid |
| Seizure or restriction | Empty | Any enforcement, court or tax note |
| Registered area | Matches the cadastral plan and the listing | Listing area larger than registered area |
| Registered use | Residential, if you intend to live there | Non-residential or commercial space |
| Note of objection | Empty | Any registered complaint against the entry |
Why the last line matters most
Article 312 of the Civil Code presumes registry data accurate and complete in favour of a buyer acting in good faith. That presumption is what protects you if the seller's own title later proves defective.
It falls away where you knew the entry was wrong, and where a complaint against the entry has been registered. An objection is public, so once it exists you cannot claim you bought blind. Check on the day you sign, not the week before.
Why recent inheritances and gifts slow things down
A purchase registered eight years ago has survived eight years of anyone who might contest it. An inheritance registered four months ago has not: heirs appear, dispute the share and register an objection. That does not kill a deal. It makes it one you buy with a lawyer in the room, and our guide to buying an apartment as a foreigner covers the contract mechanics around it.
The land use designation, if there is land
Article 19(4) of the Constitution of Georgia provides that as a resource of special importance, agricultural land may be owned only by the State, a self-governing unit, a citizen of Georgia or an association of citizens of Georgia, with exceptional cases set by organic law.
A foreign buyer who signs for a plot registered as agricultural is buying a registration refusal. Apartments are unaffected. Anything with a garden needs this line checked first.
What the extract will not tell you
The register records rights. It does not audit buildings, meters or neighbours.
Whether the building was accepted into operation
Permits, construction supervision and the acceptance of finished buildings sit under the Code of Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities. A unit can be registered while the building around it still has an open compliance problem, and the buyer inherits the argument with the municipality. Ask for the construction permit and the act accepting the building into operation. A developer who holds them produces them within the hour.
Whether the utility and building accounts are clear
Electricity runs through Telasi, gas through Tbilisi Energy, water through Georgian Water and Power, and the building association holds a balance of its own. Get a zero balance from all four before completion.
Whether the physical unit matches the plan
Order the cadastral plan and walk the apartment with it. Enclosed balconies, merged rooms and moved wet areas are common in the older stock and often unregistered. Ask renovation companies in Tbilisi what needs re-permitting.
Whether you can legally let it out
Registered use, building rules and municipal rules are three separate gates, and short-term letting is where they collide. If the plan depends on rental income, read the short-term rental rules in Tbilisi first.
New builds carry a different risk
Buying off plan in Tbilisi is not buying property. Until the building unit exists in the register, your contract gives you a claim against the developer and nothing more. The registry's fee schedule lists registration of an obligation related to an immovable property ownership right, which puts that claim onto the record against the property.
An unregistered off-plan contract leaves you an ordinary creditor of the developer, behind the bank that financed the site. Registering the obligation against the property costs 150 GEL over four working days on the agency's published schedule. Cheapest insurance in the transaction, and almost nobody buys it.
The developer's own record is the other half: what they have finished, how late it ran, and whether those buildings were accepted into operation. Our ranked list of property developers in Tbilisi tracks delivery history rather than marketing claims.
What the official checks cost
These are the agency's published fees for immovable property, from its fees and terms schedule. They are state charges only, with no lawyer, notary or translator in them.
| Service | 4 working days | 1 working day | Same day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration of change, origin or termination of a right to immovable property | 150 GEL | 270 GEL | 350 GEL |
| Registration of an obligation related to an ownership right | 150 GEL | 270 GEL | 350 GEL |
| Extract from the register, at a counter | Not offered | 20 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Extract from the register, ordered online | Not offered | 13 GEL | 52 GEL |
| Cadastral plan | Not offered | 7 GEL | 26 GEL |
An online extract at 13 GEL is the cheapest thing you will spend on a Tbilisi apartment. Pull one for every property on the shortlist before viewing. Fees move, so confirm the figure on the day you file. The transfer costs beside them are in our breakdown of property taxes and fees in Georgia.
The people side of the check
The register tells you who owns the property, not whether the person in the room is that owner or can sign alone.
Match the passport to the registered name character by character, transliteration included. Ask about marital status: property acquired during a marriage can be joint, and a missing spousal consent is not something to discover after completion.
If someone signs under a power of attorney, read it. It has to be notarised, apostilled where signed abroad, and it has to name this property and this act. A general power of attorney is not a licence to sell your future apartment.
Where the seller is a company, check the entrepreneurs register for signing authority on the day. Directors change, and an extract printed last month is decoration.
We research the real estate agencies working in Tbilisi and rank the ones worth paying. Independently researched, re-checked quarterly, free to read.
See the ranked list
Who does what in a Tbilisi transaction
Agents find properties and manage sellers. They carry no liability for your title. The better real estate agencies in Tbilisi pull an extract as a matter of course, which is a fair test of who you are dealing with.
The title opinion is separate work. Independent real estate lawyers in Tbilisi read the extract, the ownership chain and the contract, and put their name to a view. On a six-figure purchase that fee is a rounding error. If you are buying to let, add property management firms in Tbilisi, who know which buildings let and which photograph well and sit empty.
Key takeaways
- Ownership transfers on registration, not on signature. Until the entry changes, the seller can still deal with the property.
- The Public Registry is several registers. Search the property, public-law restrictions and tax lien registers, not just the first.
- Eight lines carry the deal: cadastral code, owner, legal basis, mortgage, seizure, area, registered use and any note of objection.
- A registered complaint against an entry removes the good-faith protection you would otherwise rely on. Check it on the day you sign.
- Foreign buyers cannot own agricultural land under Article 19(4) of the Constitution, so check the designation on anything with a garden.
- Off-plan contracts give you a claim, not ownership. Registering that obligation against the property is the cheapest protection there is.
FAQ
What is property due diligence in Tbilisi, in practice?
It is a documentary check on a specific cadastral code before you pay for it. You pull the registry extract, search the restrictions and tax lien registers, match the seller to the registered owner, and confirm the building's permit position. Most of it is done remotely and cheaply, because the contract and the seller, not the apartment, create the risk.
How do I get a property extract from the Public Registry?
Order it from the National Agency of Public Registry using the cadastral code, at a Public Service Hall counter or online. The published fee is 20 GEL for one working day at a counter and 13 GEL online, with same-day issuance costing more. Registered data is public under Article 6(1) of the Law on the Public Registry, so the seller's permission is not required.
Can foreigners buy property in Georgia?
Yes for apartments, commercial units and non-agricultural land, with no nationality restriction and no residence requirement. Agricultural land is the exception: Article 19(4) of the Constitution reserves it for the State, a self-governing unit, Georgian citizens or associations of Georgian citizens. Check the registered designation before signing on anything with a plot.
Does a Georgian property purchase have to be notarised?
Georgian practice allows the transaction to be executed before a notary or directly through the registry's authorised officers, which is why many transfers complete at a Public Service Hall. What is not optional is registration, since the Civil Code makes the registry entry the moment ownership passes.
What encumbrances should I be looking for?
Mortgages, pledges, court and enforcement seizures, tax liens, registered leases, easements and any note of objection against the entry. Each sits in a specific register, and a property extract alone will not surface all of them. Any entry you do not understand is a reason to stop and get a legal opinion.
Is buying off plan from a Tbilisi developer safe?
It carries a different risk profile from a completed unit. Until the building unit is registered you hold a contractual claim against the developer, not a property right. Registering that obligation against the property is the standard protection, and the agency publishes a fee for it.
What happens if the seller is married?
Property acquired during a marriage can be jointly owned, in which case a disposal needs the spouse's involvement. Raise it early and in writing rather than at the counter. A missing consent is one of the few problems that can unwind a completed transfer.
Can I do the whole purchase remotely?
Yes, through a notarised and apostilled power of attorney naming the specific property and the specific act. The wording decides whether it works, and a general power of attorney will not do. Have it reviewed by a Georgian lawyer before you sign abroad, because a rejected document means repeating the apostille.
What are the warning signs that I should walk away?
A seller who will not give the cadastral code, an extract more than a few days old, a registered objection nobody wants to explain, and pressure to pay a deposit before the extract arrives. None of these prove fraud. All of them are cheap to check, which is why the answer arrives before the money does.