Duplex apartments in Batumi: a developer's duplex or two apartments combined

A two-level apartment in Batumi is like a house inside an apartment block: two floors, your own staircase, often a terrace on top. Such apartments are called duplexes, and there are not many of them: developers build them mainly on the top floors, and some are put together by owners from two apartments one above the other. How a duplex came about decides what you are buying on paper and how much work lies ahead.

Duplex apartments in Batumi: the types

The first type is a developer's duplex. It was designed as two-level from the start, is registered as one property, and the staircase is either already in place or an opening has been left for it. Most often these are the top two floors of a high-rise, sometimes with a roof terrace.

The second type: two apartments that the owner combined by cutting an opening in the slab. Here legality is the main thing: the opening changes a load-bearing structure, and the combination changes the properties themselves in the Public Registry. If this was done without a design and approval, together with the apartment you buy someone else's problem, and later you and the neighbours below will have to deal with it.

One property in the registry or two

The lawyer starts with the extract: is it one apartment with one cadastral code or two separate ones. If two, the deal covers both properties, and for each we check the owner, mortgages and seizures. We check whether there is a design and permit for the opening, and whether the area in the extract matches what is there.

If the combination has not been legalised, we decide before the deal: the seller legalises it, or the price reflects it, or you walk away. How such changes are formalised is covered on our page about layout changes and legalisation.

The stairs and the opening

Developers hand over duplexes in different ways: with a concrete staircase or with an opening where the owner installs the stairs. We check exactly what you were handed against the annex to the contract. A concrete staircase is solid, but its shape can no longer be changed. An opening gives freedom, but a steel-frame staircase becomes a separate budget item; more on our page about stairs in an apartment.

In an apartment made from two, a structural engineer checks the opening: how it was cut, whether the slab edges were reinforced, whether there are cracks around it. A structural report on load-bearing walls and slabs starts from 1 200 ₾, and for such a duplex it is an essential part of the check. We also look at the neighbours below: if the opening was made many years ago, cracks in their ceiling will tell more about it than the seller.

The upper level: heat, the bathroom and footsteps

Warm air rises, so the upper level is hotter than the lower one in summer, especially under the roof. We size the air conditioners upstairs with a margin and put a separate unit downstairs, so as not to push cool air up and down the stairs. The bathroom on the upper level must have a proper extractor and tested waterproofing: a leak from there goes straight into your living room.

Footsteps on the upper level and on the stairs can be heard below, and with an open staircase the TV too. If the children's bedrooms are upstairs and the living room below, this matters. What changes when renovating such apartments is explained on our page about duplex apartment renovation.

Living in it or letting it

For a family a duplex is convenient because it splits life across levels: living room and kitchen below, bedrooms above. But for small children and elderly parents the stairs become a daily challenge, and that is worth assessing honestly. The stairs need railings, a handrail on both sides if the steps are steep, and lighting that can be switched on both from below and from above.

Short-term, a duplex by the sea is taken by large groups and families, and its nightly rate is higher. But wear is greater too: the stairs, two bathrooms, more cleaning. It is worth telling guests with small children in advance that the apartment has stairs, to avoid unhappy reviews. If the duplex is on the top floors with a terrace, the same questions about the roof and terrace apply as in a penthouse.

Price and resale

There are few duplexes, and comparing the price is harder than for an ordinary apartment. We look at prices per square metre of similar apartments in the same building, value the terrace and the state of the stairs separately, and for certainty order a valuation from an accredited valuer.

There are fewer buyers for a duplex than for a 2+1, but for those looking specifically for a two-level apartment the choice is small too. Developer duplexes registered as one property and legalised apartments made from two with documents for the opening sell best.

How much a duplex check costs

Property search for a fixed fee starts from 5 400 ₾. A technical inspection of the apartment before purchase starts from 480 ₾, a legal due diligence check from 960 ₾, a structural report on load-bearing walls from 1 200 ₾, a valuation by an accredited valuer from 330 ₾.

The final price is set after we review your brief and agree the scope of work. The registry fee and the notary's charges are paid at their own rates.