Property management in Batumi: short-term and long-term rentals

We handle every part of property management in Batumi: listings, guests, cleaning, utility bills and reports to the owner. We rent out apartments, aparthotel units and houses by the night, by the month or long term, and choose the format to suit the apartment and the season. You don't have to live in Georgia or answer guests' messages. You deal with one manager, and we do the rest.

What we take care of

We put the list of tasks in the contract, so that six months later nobody argues about who should have changed a light bulb. For short-term rental the list covers:

• Photos of the apartment and listings on Booking, Airbnb and local sites
• Prices and the calendar, with the rate adjusted for the season and the day of the week
• Messages with guests before arrival and during their stay
• Check-in and check-out, in person or with a keypad lock
• Cleaning after every guest, washing and changing linen, guest supplies
• Minor repairs, such as a dripping tap
• Paying the electricity, gas and water bills and the building service charges
• Checking the apartment after every check-out

Long-term rental is a different job. We find and check a tenant, draw up the lease, take the deposit and make an inventory with photos and video. After that we check every month that the rent and the bills have been paid.

Short-term, monthly or long-term rental

The right format depends on the apartment and the time of year. Most tourists come to Batumi between July and September, and those are the months when short-term rental gets the most bookings. In winter occupancy drops, but the utility bills and building service charges still have to be paid.

So for many apartments we work out how a mixed scheme would perform: short-term in summer, monthly in winter. During the season the apartment takes tourists, and for the colder months a tenant rents it. Long-term rental suits apartments away from the sea and owners who value a steady income more than a high summer rate. Managing a short-term rental takes more work, and that shows in the costs.

How we calculate income down to the net figure

The nightly price in the listing and the money that reaches the owner are very different things. Between the booking and the payout come:

1. The platform commission that Booking or Airbnb keeps from each booking
2. Cleaning, laundry and guest supplies between stays
3. Utility bills and the building service charge
4. Minor repairs and replacing whatever has worn out
5. Our commission

You also pay tax out of what is left. At the 5% rate for ordinary residential rental, the tax is calculated on gross income, not on this remainder. For short-term rental we agree the tax regime with a tax adviser. There are also empty nights that nobody booked, and they earn nothing. Projections in adverts often take the summer nightly price and multiply it by the whole year. The figure looks good, but none of the costs listed above are in it.

We calculate it differently. We take the expected occupancy of your apartment month by month, add all the costs and show what is left after each step. We will not promise you a specific income, because nobody can guarantee one, but you can check every figure in the calculation and in the reports.

Getting the apartment ready to rent out

An apartment for guests wears out faster than one you live in yourself, and it has to look different in photos. If it has not been renovated, or the renovation was done for living in, we take on the preparation. Renovation and interior design are done in-house, so you don't need to look for a separate contractor. If the developer has just handed over the apartment, we can accept it on your behalf under a power of attorney, renovate it and start renting it out.

When we prepare an apartment for short-term guests, we choose materials that will survive suitcases and frequent cleaning: porcelain tiles or SPC vinyl flooring, washable paint and moisture-resistant materials in the bathroom. We add what guests look for in the platform filters: air conditioning, a washing machine, a workspace and a proper kitchen. You need at least two full changes of linen, plus somewhere to store it.

We send a preliminary estimate from photos and a floor plan within 24 hours on business days, and the detailed estimate after we measure on site. During the work you get a photo and video report every week, and as soon as the renovation is finished we photograph the apartment for the listings.

Reports and payouts

Once a month you get a report. It lists every booking with its dates, platform and amount, every expense with a receipt or invoice, our commission and the amount due to you. If something in the apartment broke during the month, we attach photos of the damage and the repair.

With long-term rental the report is shorter: the tenant's payments, utility bills and visits to the apartment. On request we will show you any booking directly in the host account on the platform.

How our commission is calculated is set out in the contract, and every report shows the calculation in full. The payout follows the report. At the start of each year we prepare a list of all income received in the previous year for your tax return.

An empty apartment in winter

Winter in Batumi is damp: humidity then rises above the usual 70–80%, and the city gets more than 2,400 mm of rainfall a year. A closed apartment with no heating or airing quickly gets damp, and a musty smell and mould appear on the window reveals and behind wardrobes.

If the apartment stands empty, we visit on the schedule set in the contract. We air it, run the air conditioner in dry mode or put in a dehumidifier, and check the taps, the sink traps and the ceiling below the upstairs neighbours. After a storm we look at the windows and the balcony. Each visit goes into the report with photos.

Before a long break we get the apartment ready for winter: we turn off the water, pack textiles into vacuum bags and leave the kitchen cupboard doors slightly open so the air does not go stale. We do the same for an apartment that you keep for yourself and don't rent out.

Tax on rental income and other payments the owner makes

Tax on rental income is paid by the owner. Under the rules as of autumn 2026, ordinary residential rental (a home rented out for someone to live in) is taxed at 5% of gross income if you are registered with the Revenue Service as a landlord. Without registration a different regime applies: 20% of income after expenses.

There is no single interpretation yet of how short-term rental is taxed, so we agree the regime with a tax adviser before the first bookings. Families with an annual income of up to 100,000 GEL don't pay property tax, apart from tax on land. Above that threshold the rate is up to 1% of the property's value, and the municipality sets the exact rate. You or your accountant file the returns, and we provide figures you can rely on.

The contract and your own stays in the apartment

What people often call full-service management of an apartment takes the form of a management agreement with us. We draw it up in English, Georgian or Russian, your choice. The agreement lists the tasks, the commission and what it is calculated on, how payouts are made, the spending limit for minor repairs without your approval, the term and the conditions for ending it.

You can stay in your apartment whenever you like. Block the dates in the calendar, and in summer do it well ahead, before guests take them. We keep a locked cupboard for your personal things, and guests have no access to it. After you leave we clean the apartment and make it available to guests again. If your visit clashes with a booking that has already been paid for, we will let you know and suggest other dates.

Property management in Batumi when you live abroad

You can hand your apartment over to us for management without ever coming to Batumi. We take the keys against a signed handover form with an inventory and video, and the contract is signed remotely. From then on you deal with one manager by phone and on WhatsApp during working hours, and everything agreed about the apartment goes through that person.

The manager sorts out urgent issues with guests and breakdowns on their own and tells you the outcome, but any spending above the amount set in the contract is agreed with you in advance. The same manager meets the developer's warranty technician or a representative of the building's management company on site. This makes managing an apartment from a distance less of a worry: the monthly report and the photos from visits to the empty apartment show you what is happening there.