Can foreigners buy property in Georgia?

Yes — foreigners buy apartments, houses and commercial property in Georgia freehold, with no visa and no residency. The one exception is agricultural land.

The short answer

Yes. A foreign citizen can buy an apartment, a house, an office, a shop or a hotel unit in Georgia on exactly the same terms as a Georgian citizen. You own it freehold — the building and the land under it, indefinitely, in your own name. There is no leasehold arrangement to worry about and no local partner requirement.

You do not need a visa. You do not need a residence permit. You do not need to live in Georgia or to have ever visited. A valid passport is enough to sign and to register.

The one thing you cannot buy

Agricultural land. Georgia's Organic Law on the Ownership of Agricultural Land bars foreign citizens from acquiring it, with narrow exceptions. This matters more than it sounds, and it catches people out in one specific way: a village house with a large garden may have its yard registered as agricultural land even though the house itself is residential.

If you are buying anything with land attached — a house, a plot, a cottage in Kakheti — have the Public Registry extract read before you sign, and check the land's registered designation, not the estate agent's description of it. An apartment in a building has no such problem.

What the purchase actually involves

The mechanics are unusually simple by regional standards:

Check the registry. A Public Registry extract shows the registered owner, the exact area, the land designation, and any mortgage or court restriction on the property. This is the single most important document in the transaction.
Sign a bilingual purchase agreement. Georgian is the legal language; a parallel English or Arabic column is normal and sensible.
Pay by bank transfer. Keep the transfer traceable and in your own name — you will want that paper trail later for a residence permit or a resale.
Register the transfer. This happens at the Public Registry or a Public Service Hall. Registration is what makes you the owner; the contract on its own does not.

If you cannot travel, a notarised Power of Attorney lets a lawyer complete all of it without you. Give that power to a lawyer you appointed and are paying — not to the seller's representative, and not to the developer's in-house agent.

The taxes you will actually pay

Georgia's tax treatment of property is one of the genuine reasons people buy here rather than in a neighbouring country:

Rental income: 5% for individuals on residential rent under the standard regime.
Capital gains: zero if you have owned the property for more than two years. Sell inside two years and the gain is taxable.
Inheritance tax: none.
Annual property tax: applies above a household income threshold and is low by European standards; a Georgian accountant can tell you in one conversation whether it touches you at all.

Nothing here is tax advice and we are not accountants. These are the headline rules; your own position depends on your residency and your home country's treatment of foreign income.

Buying does not automatically give you residency

This is the most common misunderstanding, and since 1 March 2026 it is an expensive one. Owning property in Georgia and holding a Georgian residence permit are two separate things. The permit route through property now requires property worth $150,000 or more, up from $100,000, and it is assessed on a certified market valuation rather than the figure on your contract.

It is also assessed on registered ownership. A signed contract for an off-plan apartment, however large the deposit, is not ownership. Read the full rules before you choose a unit.

Common questions

Do I need to be in Georgia to buy?

No. A notarised Power of Attorney lets a lawyer sign and register on your behalf. Appoint your own lawyer rather than using one supplied by the seller.

Can I get a mortgage in Georgia as a foreigner?

Some Georgian banks lend to non-residents, but at higher rates and lower loan-to-value ratios than a Georgian citizen would get. Most foreign buyers here pay cash or use a developer instalment plan.

Is there a tax on buying property in Georgia?

There is no separate purchase or transfer tax for the buyer. You pay a registration fee at the Public Registry, which is small. Budget instead for your lawyer, the valuation and any translation.

Can a foreign company buy property in Georgia?

Yes, and it is common for commercial purchases. The agricultural-land restriction still applies, and a company structure changes your tax position, so take advice before choosing it over personal ownership.

Figures checked September 2026 against Colliers Georgia, Galt & Taggart, TBC Capital and Georgian government sources. Rules change; confirm anything you are about to act on.

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