Are you thinking of investing in real estate in Tbilisi, Georgia? The first thing you should know is that there is an investment competition in Georgia, especially in Tbilisi because the opportunities are countless as many foreigners rush to this beautiful country every year. Do you want to know why? The answer is — doing a business here is much cheaper and easier than in any other country, therefore foreign investment has been growing rapidly in recent years and demand for property in Georgia has been increasing from year to year and foreign investors are showing more interest in buying real estate in Georgia. Besides, Georgia is well-known for its hospitality.
Which neighborhoods are the best to invest in real estate in Tbilisi?
The answer to this question depends on your needs, financial situation, and the aim of investment and the time frame, as you might prefer the areas with high rental profit and high rental yields. The best location for real estate in Tbilisi is where the best living environment is — the attractive district that is well-equipped in shops, markets and other spots of activity.
Georgia is a very popular country for visitors and tourists so if you are thinking of making an investment in real estate and buying some apartments in order to rent it to tourists, you need to know that location should be close to Tbilisi city center as it is the most important criteria that visitors usually demand — being close to the center. Such locations can be Saburtalo, Vera, Vake, Ortachala, Mtatsminda, Rustaveli Avenue, Freedom Square, the district of old Tbilisi and Aghmashenebeli Avenue. If you buy an apartment in these areas you will have more chances of better income and high rental yields.
The historic district of Tbilisi is one of the demanded value on a real estate business market and still maintains amazingly different in terms of buildings and designs. If you are planning to make an investment which will be connected mainly with immigrants and foreigners this location is something to consider as tourism is what makes economy of Georgia strong.
Saburtalo is a well-known area of the capital. It has most of the metro stations so you can easily reach it from any part of Tbilisi. A few years ago this part was not that popular for foreigners, but after some strong developers started to build new and interesting projects, a lot of people started to move there. Saburtalo is a very popular place for students from foreign countries as well because Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgian Technical University, and University of Georgia are located exactly in the heart of the Saburtalo area and as these universities host a lot of foreigners, all these students try to rent apartments near universities.
In Saburtalo you will find branches for all the banks and most of the big companies in any sector of business.
Vera and Vake — very popular neighborhoods of Tbilisi, and they are close to the city center. Here you can find lots of expensive hotels and boutique hotels as well with high standards, very popular restaurants, cafés, .
Rustaveli avenue is known for its governmental, public, cultural, and business buildings that are located along the avenue. Among them are the Georgian National Opera Theater, the Parliament of Georgia building, the Georgian Academy of Sciences, the Rustaveli State Academic Theater, the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia. Here are many beautiful and stylish buildings on Rustaveli Avenue; among them is the Tbilisi Opera House which is known for its beautiful architectural style and some luxurious hotels. The avenue is full of various spots including cafes, shops, restaurants, malls and other entertainment places. To sum up, it’s one of the central avenues of Tbilisi where tourists love to be.
Freedom square is located in the center of Tbilisi at the end of Rustaveli Avenue and at the same time is the crossing point of two most interesting neighborhoods of Tbilisi — the Old town and Sololaki district where most of the hotels are located and most of the apartments are rented to the tourists.
Marjanishvili avenue or Aghmashenebeli is one of the main neighborhoods in Tbilisi and is also known as a street where Turkish restaurants and Arabic shisha bars are located.
You will find a lot of people of different nationalities and from different countries as it is one of the main tourist places as well.
Above mentioned locations are mostly for foreigners and wealthy Georgians who can buy such property in the city center. For those who aren’t much concerned with living in Tbilisi center or elsewhere near, there are other neighborhoods of the capital where prices are much lower and therefore investment in real estate can be cheaper as well. Such neighborhoods can be: Varketili, Moscow Avenue, Vazisubani, Nakhalovka, Gldani, Mukhiani, Dighomi.
The real estate project in Tbilisi that I advise for investing
Reasons to make an investment in Georgia
Georgia is being known as a great place to do business because of the main reason – low prices. Starting a business in this country happens very fast, you can easily register your company in a day or two. In fact, Georgia is on the 6th place in the world, ranked by Ease of Business Index. Investors have been spending their resources on investing which makes Georgia’s economy strong.
The World Bank Group publishes a report every year announcing those countries of the world where starting and making business is easy and cheap. Georgia’s position will definitely attract your attention. The country is on the 6th place in the global according to May 2018’s statistics. This is the highest indicator among other countries of Europe and Central Asia. According to the last report which was published in 2020 shows that Georgia is on the 7th place among all countries in the world. That simply underlines how easy it is to make businesses in Georgia. The country has 2nd place between Europe and Central Asia regions and also, it connects Asia to Europe through three international airports. Investors in Georgia can develop hotel business, residential, retail, and office premises.
Also, as the World Economic Forum reports, the taxes are low in Georgia what makes the country stand in the 9th position in the world.
Economy of Georgia
Two major spots in the Georgian Economy that are attracting foreign investors’ attention and their investment plans are Tourism and Real Estate. Due to the population growth and the number of immigrants there is an increasing demand for apartments in the capital city, which is why you see new buildings being built everywhere. Since this is one of the most popular investments for locals and foreigners it causes high competition between investors.
Real estate in Tbilisi, Georgia
In Georgia there are two main cities where you can think of making an investment in real estate – Tbilisi and Batumi. But in this case lets talks about Tbilisi which is the capital of this country.
Although Tbilisi is improving these days and it’s becoming more and more trendy and modern, its real estate is still amazingly cheap for foreign investors.
Tbilisi is one of the capital cities where you can buy real estate in a city center for under $1,000 per square meter which is approximately 3,300 GEL according to today’s currency. There are properties located right in the center of the most in-demand area in Tbilisi, but they are cheap. All foreigners can buy property in Tbilisi. They have the same rights when it comes to buying residential real estate as Georgians do.
Who are the investors in Georgia and who can make an investment?
The answer is simple – anyone can make an investment in Georgia. The country has a Visa-Free Regime with 94 countries’ citizens all over the world. According to the World Tourism Organization’s announcements many of the foreign investors in Georgia are companies or individuals from other countries.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)which shows an investment made by a firm, company or individual in one country into business sector in another country. You can find a chart published by National Statistics Office of Georgia according to every year’s statistics.
Again, according to GeoStat, the majority of foreign investors are from Azerbaijan, Russia, The United Kingdom, and The Netherlands.
How to obtain Temporary Residency in Georgia?
If you buy any kind of real estate in Georgia with the price of $100,000 or more, you are given a residency permit for you and your family. For example, you can buy a private house or an apartment for that price, start living there legally, and pay no taxes on your worldwide income.
How to obtain Permanent Residency through investment in Georgia?
If you invest $300,000 or more in real estate in Georgia or have the property ownership of 300,000 USD worth (real estate, except agricultural land) on Georgia’s territory. In this case you are given a 5-year investor visa. During these 5 years, you must keep the real estate, or if you decide to sell it, you should obtain another real estate which will be the same value.
This type of residence permit has a high chance to become a permanent residence if investor follows every term and all conditions mentioned above during the 5-year period.
Different types of properties in Tbilisi
Generally, there are two main types of property – residential and commercial. It is the safest decision to make an investment in Tbilisi, no matter if you are investing in a residential or commercial type of property because the benefit will surely surprise you. But apartments and houses have a high potentials to be rented or even sold after years.
Residential Property is a type of property that is not meant to be used for business purposes. In other words, residential properties can be buildings or structures where people can live in, or at least these type of properties are permitted to be sold or rented. Different types of housing vary from villas, studio apartments, town house.
Apartments are the most popular type of property for people both for foreigners and Georgians to buy or sell, or even rent in Tbilisi. Recently, Georgia has been becoming a more and more popular tourist destination. Besides that, a large number of foreign investors, companies, or offices have set up a new branch of their work or started new business in Georgia in the past 20 years.
Commercial properties in Tbilisi
If you are thinking of a very profitable investment in any kind of property Georgia, and especially in Tbilisi, any type of accommodation (hotel, hostel, apartment) that is connected with tourism should be considered, because the increasing number of foreign tourists in Georgia has been surprisingly fast in the past few years and has helped many businesses become very successful.
Why investing in hotels in Tbilisi?
You should always keep in mind that Tbilisi is a touristic center, therefore it means that all tourists’ first and basic need is accommodation. Some of them prefer to stay at luxury hotels but some still go for budget accommodation. The main thing is that to start a business or just invest in property, buying or making an investment in a hotel in Georgia is always a good idea.
What do the entrepreneurs and investors say about Georgia?
Entrepreneurship plays an important role in any country’s economy, especially in Georgia as it helps build strong economy. The foreign entrepreneurs in Georgia are very optimistic about the future of their careers, as it is easy to do a business in Georgia. The country is so business-friendly and the society is so supportive and the government cooperates and helps a lot. Entrepreneurship and investing in Tbilisi, Georgia is without a doubt among the best decisions you can make.
Conclusion
To sum up, Georgia is very business-friendly as doing business is really easy in this country – make an investment and see how fast your money returns to you. It’s much better to invest in real estate industry rather than in agriculture due to the low risk. Georgia’s population is growing both internally and externally. A lot of foreigners – investors and non-investors come here for tourism, investment and other needs, therefore it means a lot of real estate is needed. Soon the demand will rise on hotels, shopping canters and other types of accommodation. If it is difficult for you to find a worthy investment in Georgia,, we would recommend combining the two major industries: tourism and real estate.
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