Buying from a developer in Georgia: the checklist before you sign

Updated: October 2026

Before you talk to any developer

Set your own terms first, so that the sales process does not set them for you. Write down the answers and take them to your lawyer.

• Goal: a home, a rental or a long-term holding? It decides which delivery date and finish level matter.
• Budget including everything outside the price: registration, notary, furniture, utility connections, management. Ask for the extra costs in writing.
• Currency and source account. Ask your Israeli bank in advance which documents it wants (see the bank-account and buying-remotely guides).
• Representation: choose an independent lawyer in Georgia before the first reservation, not one recommended by the seller.
• Taxes in Israel and Georgia: ask your accountant and lawyer. No rates here.

Check the company

You are buying a promise made by a company, so first confirm who it is and who may sign for it.

• Ask for the full legal name, identification code and address of the company that signs. It must match the building permit and the brochure.
• Order an extract from the Registry of Entrepreneurs and Non-Entrepreneurial (Non-Commercial) Legal Entities at the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR, napr.gov.ge). Look at the partners, the director, who may sign and whether the company is new. Ask the lawyer to explain each line.
• Ask for proof that the signatory may act for the company.
• Ask whether the land belongs to the same company. If not, ask for the agreement between the owner and the company.
• Ask for earlier projects, with addresses. Visit one delivered building and talk to residents about leaks, lifts and the management company.
• With your lawyer, search the company and directors by name in local news and court records.

Check the project: land, permit, encumbrances

• Get the cadastral code of the plot in writing and compare address and area with the brochure.
• Order a fresh NAPR extract for the plot: owner, mortgage, pledge, arrest, other restrictions. The extract is issued to any person, and for a transaction in immovable property a person's right is established by the extract (Law on the Public Registry, Art. 10). Do not accept the seller's own copies instead.
• Plot mortgaged to a bank? Ask for the bank's written consent and a written mechanism for releasing your apartment after you pay.
• Ask the lawyer whether to also order NAPR's certificate on public-law restrictions and the information on the land category (both are NAPR services).
• Building permit: ask for a copy and the approved project. Check the permit holder, the address, the cadastral code, and that floors and area cover your apartment. We could not confirm a public online register of permits, so ask the issuing authority, through your lawyer, to confirm it in writing. On site, count the floors built against the permit.

The contract: what must be in it

Transfer of an immovable thing requires a written transaction and registration in the Public Registry (Civil Code, Art. 183); a preliminary contract takes the same form (Art. 327). Each item below is a requirement. If it is not in the text, assume it was not agreed. Finish levels are explained in the off-plan guide.

At signing, the notary verifies identities, explains the content and consequences and reads the text aloud (Law on Notaries, Arts. 48-50); with a party who does not know the state language the notary acts with an interpreter (Art. 6). Get a translation you trust before the signing day.

1. Parties: developer's full name, code and signatory; your details as in the passport.
2. Object: floor, number, area, plan attached, cadastral code.
3. Price and currency: one price, one currency, what is included, which date's exchange rate applies.
4. Payment schedule: each payment tied to a construction stage or date, and one bank account named.
5. Delivery date: handover and the document putting the building into operation; grounds for any extension.
6. Penalty for delay: an amount agreed in writing (Art. 418). By default the creditor cannot demand penalty and performance at once (Art. 419), and a court may reduce a disproportionate penalty (Art. 420).
7. Finish level: black, white or green frame is a market term, not a legal one. The annex must list each work item and material.
8. Ownership and registration: who files, when, at whose cost; is pre-registration of your right foreseen (Public Registry law, Art. 12); what do you hold until your apartment becomes a separate registered unit?
9. Encumbrances: a statement that the object is free of mortgage and arrest, or the release mechanism and deadline.
10. Termination and refund: when each side may terminate, what is returned, when and in what currency. A party may withdraw if the other does not perform within an additional period set (Art. 405).
11. Utilities: who connects electricity, water, gas and sewage, at whose cost, and who pays management until handover.
12. Handover: acceptance act, procedure and deadline for fixing defects, warranty.
13. Disputes and language: court or arbitration and where, which version prevails, resale before handover.

Payments: rules of thumb

These are our recommendations, not law.

• Pay only to the company account named in the contract, in the named currency, by bank transfer. Never to a personal account of a manager, agent or lawyer, and no cash. Keep every transfer confirmation.
• Tie each payment to a stage in the contract; before paying, ask for photos, a site visit or your lawyer's confirmation that the stage is done.
• Ask in writing what happens to your money if the project stops and whether anyone independent holds it. We found no official source making this mandatory: ask your lawyer.

After signing: registration, handover, snags, utilities

1. Have the lawyer file or track the registration application at NAPR and keep its number. NAPR lists its service centers as the Agency's branches and Houses of Justice. Pre-registration, if agreed, comes first (Art. 12).
2. Before handover ask for the document putting the building into operation; after completion the law requires such a document for registering the building (Art. 15⁶).
3. At handover bring an independent inspector. Measure the area, compare it with the annex, check meters, windows, water, electrics, damp and cracks.
4. Write every defect into the handover act or an attached snag list with a deadline. Do not accept verbal promises.
5. Utilities: agree who puts the meters in your name, record readings, get confirmation of no debt.
6. Order a fresh NAPR extract after registration: your name, the apartment, the area, no unexpected mortgage. Keep all papers in one folder, with a copy at your lawyer.

Red flags

Stop paying and take advice if you meet one of these.

• A price far below comparable offers and pressure to decide today.
• Refusal to show the plot extract, the permit or company documents.
• A request to pay to a personal account, in cash, or to another company.
• A verbal agreement only, or a contract you cannot read and no time for a lawyer.
• A delivery date with no penalty or with unlimited extensions.
• A mortgaged plot and a promise to sort it out after you pay.
• An agent or lawyer who works for the developer and discourages an independent one.
• A guaranteed return. We promise none and treat any such promise as a reason for caution.

The one-page checklist

Print it and tick it off with your lawyer.

• ☐ Independent lawyer chosen; goal and budget written down
• ☐ Company: full name, code, registry extract, signatory authorised
• ☐ Earlier projects listed; one delivered building visited
• ☐ Plot: cadastral code, fresh NAPR extract
• ☐ Permit copy confirmed by the issuing authority
• ☐ Mortgage on the plot: bank consent and release in writing
• ☐ Contract read by the lawyer, translated, annexes attached
• ☐ Object, price, currency, payment stages
• ☐ Delivery date, penalty, finish annex, handover procedure
• ☐ Registration: who files, when, pre-registration
• ☐ Termination, refund, disputes, resale
• ☐ Payments only to the contract account, receipts kept
• ☐ Fresh extract before each larger payment
• ☐ Handover: operation document, inspector, snag list, meters

Who to ask, what to bring, and why there are no figures

We publish no figures here on purpose. For sourced numbers see the linked guides on off-plan purchases, verifying a property, buying remotely and bank accounts. This is not legal or tax advice: use a local lawyer and verify with official sources before a deal.

• Independent lawyer in Georgia: ask in writing what is included (contract review, extracts, attending the signing, tracking registration) and who pays whom.
• Israeli accountant: tax consequences in Israel, reporting of foreign property and accounts, and how the transfer is treated. Get the answer in writing.
• Bring: passport, power of attorney if you act remotely, bank details, brochure and advertisements, the draft contract with annexes, this checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: napr.gov.ge: fees and terms (Registry of Entrepreneurs services) (accessed 2026-10-30) · napr.gov.ge: information services (extract, restriction certificate) (accessed 2026-10-30) · napr.gov.ge: registration of rights in immovable property (accessed 2026-10-30) · napr.gov.ge: service centers (branches, Houses of Justice) (accessed 2026-10-30) · matsne.gov.ge: Law on the Public Registry (Arts. 10, 12, 15⁶) (accessed 2026-10-30) · matsne.gov.ge: Civil Code (Arts. 183, 327, 405, 418-420) (accessed 2026-10-30) · matsne.gov.ge: Law on Notaries (Arts. 6, 48-50) (accessed 2026-10-30) · tcsa.gov.ge: Technical and Construction Supervision Agency (opened; no permit register confirmed) (accessed 2026-10-30)

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