Buying a flat in Tbilisi and renting it out is the most common investment idea among newcomers. The only real questions are how much it actually returns, and how short-term letting differs from long-term. Below is a yield calculation by district based on our own data (median sale and rental prices across 60,000 active listings), an honest breakdown of the costs that eat into that yield, and the tax regimes.
- Gross yield in Tbilisi is 6.8–10% a year depending on the district. That is before costs.
- The cheaper the district, the higher the yield: Vazisubani 10.0%, Mukhiani 8.2% against Didube 6.8%. Expensive housing pays back more slowly.
- Net yield is about a third lower than gross: taxes, vacancy, management, wear and tear.
- Rental tax: 5% for an individual letting residential property, or 1% under small-business status as a sole trader — the difference matters.
- Short-term letting grosses more but demands either your daily attention or a management company (15–25% of revenue), and swings with the season.
Yield by district
We calculate gross yield directly: median rent per m² × 12 months ÷ median sale price per m². Both medians come from active listings in our database, so these are figures for a specific district rather than a market-wide average.
| District | Sale, $/m² | Rent, $/m² | Yield, % p.a. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vazisubani | 950 | 7.9 | 10.0 |
| Digomi 1-9 | 1,335 | 10.0 | 9.0 |
| Mukhiani | 1,273 | 8.7 | 8.2 |
| Lisi lake | 1,797 | 12.2 | 8.2 |
| Temqa | 1,242 | 8.3 | 8.1 |
| Krtsanisi | 1,880 | 12.0 | 7.7 |
| Moscow Ave | 1,382 | 8.8 | 7.7 |
| Vashlijvari | 1,430 | 9.1 | 7.6 |
| Varketili | 1,333 | 8.2 | 7.4 |
| Didi digomi | 1,406 | 8.7 | 7.4 |
| Isani | 1,489 | 9.2 | 7.4 |
| Chugureti | 1,650 | 10.0 | 7.3 |
| Digomi | 1,503 | 9.2 | 7.3 |
| Nadzaladevi | 1,540 | 9.4 | 7.3 |
| Sanzona | 1,442 | 8.5 | 7.1 |
| Nutsubidze plateau | 1,600 | 9.5 | 7.1 |
| Ortachala | 1,757 | 10.2 | 7.0 |
| Gldani | 1,447 | 8.3 | 6.9 |
| Didube | 1,641 | 9.3 | 6.8 |
The practical conclusion: if the goal is income rather than living there yourself, expensive central districts almost always lose. But cheap districts carry their own cost: lower liquidity on resale, longer tenant searches, more frequent turnover. Look beyond the percentage at how long listings sit in the district pulse — it shows how quickly flats there actually move.
Long-term or short-term
| Long-term | Short-term | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue | Lower but steady | Higher in season, dips in winter |
| Owner's time | A few hours a year | Daily work or a management company |
| Costs | Minimal | Cleaning, linen, platform fees, management 15–25% |
| Wear and tear | Slow | Fast: new guests every 2–4 days |
| Regulation | Simple | More complex: VAT above the turnover threshold, building rules |
The familiar claim that "short-term earns twice as much" holds only for gross revenue in high season and only in the right locations — the centre, a view, a short walk to the metro. Once cleaning, vacancy and fees are deducted the gap narrows sharply, and off-season it can vanish entirely. If you don't live in Georgia and aren't prepared to pay a management company, long-term is almost always the more practical choice.
What eats the yield
- Tax — 1% or 5% depending on the regime (see below).
- Vacancy. Even in a liquid district, budget 2–4 weeks a year between tenants. That alone is 4–8% of revenue.
- Management. An agent finding a tenant usually costs half a month's rent once; a management company on short-term letting takes 15–25% of revenue continuously.
- Repairs and depreciation. Every 3–5 years the flat needs refreshing and appliances fail. Setting aside roughly one month's rent a year is reasonable.
- Utilities are normally paid by the tenant on long-term lets, but the empty months are on you.
A working rule of thumb: net yield lands about a third below gross. Of 8% gross, roughly 5–5.5% survives — still noticeably better than a dollar deposit, but not the "10% a year" that listings advertise.
Taxes
- An individual letting residential property to individuals — 5% of rental income, with no deduction of expenses. The simplest and most common route.
- A sole trader with small-business status — 1% of turnover within the limit. It requires registering as an individual entrepreneur and filing monthly, but on meaningful sums the saving is substantial (see small business status and how to register).
- Short-term letting sits closer to business activity; above the turnover threshold VAT enters the picture. All the more reason to choose the regime before you start.
Contract and deposit
- A written contract — even if the tenant is a friend of a friend. It is what protects you in disputes over the deposit and damage.
- A photographed inventory at move-in. It is the only thing that genuinely works when the flat's condition comes up at move-out.
- A deposit of typically one month's rent. Spell out exactly what it may be withheld for — not "damage" in the abstract.
- Meter readings recorded on the move-in date.
- Payments to a bank account, not in cash: in a dispute the transfer history is your main evidence.
What to do if a tenant stops paying or damages the property is covered separately in rental disputes.
Risks
- Overpricing. A flat listed above market sits empty for months — the vacancy costs more than the rent difference. Check your price in the listing analysis: it shows the fair rent and comparable properties nearby.
- An unfinished new build. A bare shell doesn't let; put the renovation into your payback calculation rather than leaving it for later.
- Seasonality in short-term letting. Modelling on August versus January gives answers that differ several-fold.
- Managing from abroad. Without someone on the ground, any leak becomes an expensive problem.
To assess a specific flat — fair rent, what's nearby, duplicate listings — use the analysis, and to compare districts by prices and dynamics, the district pulse.