Off-plan apartments in Batumi: the project, following the build and the cost of waiting
An off-plan apartment in Batumi costs less than a finished one because you pay now and live in it or let it years later. At an early stage you choose the developer and the contract rather than the apartment. We check the company, the plot and the permit, read the contract before the first payment, visit the site on a schedule and work out the full cost of waiting so you can compare it with an apartment in a completed building.
What to know about the district
Most building goes on by the sea, on the New Boulevard and Khimshiashvili Street, where plots are expensive and buildings tall. Here the most important check is the number of floors in the permit: planning rules have been tightened in recent years, and legalising floors above the permit is getting harder.
Further from the shore, along the Airport Highway and around Heroes Alley, projects are lower and cheaper, and construction is just as active. In Makhinjauri, Gonio and Kvariati complexes are built on slopes, where a lot of money goes into retaining walls and terraces, and the timing there depends on the weather more often.
Rain in Batumi comes in spells of several days, and in winter the pace of construction is usually slower. We take that into account when comparing progress with the schedule.
We’ll find options to match your request
There are no properties matching these criteria in our public catalog right now. Some offers reach us before they’re published: leave a request, and we’ll message you a selection.
An off-plan apartment in Batumi costs less than a finished one, and the gap is not there by chance: you pay now, you get the keys years later, and every risk of those years sits with you. How the stage of construction changes the price and the checks is covered on our page about apartments in new builds. This page is about choosing a project at an early stage, following it from a distance and working out what the wait really costs.
What you buy when the building does not exist yet
On a construction site you are not buying an apartment but a contract: a floor plan, an area, a completion date, a payment schedule and the promised shell specification. The apartment is not in the Public Registry; it will only appear there after the building is completed. Until then your right rests on the wording of the contract and your payment records, so the contract matters more here than any rendering.
Hence the first rule: everything you are promised verbally has to go into the contract. The floor and apartment number, the area and how it is recalculated, the completion date and the penalty for delay, the refund terms, the right to sell the apartment before it is fully paid. How a payment plan contract works is explained on our page about developer payment plans.
Off-plan apartments in Batumi: how to choose the project
At an early stage you are choosing the developer, not the apartment. We look at the buildings they have already completed: did they hand them over on time, are the apartments registered, what do the entrance and façade look like a few years on. If the company has not completed a single building, which happens even with large projects, the risk is higher, and that should show in the price or in the contract terms.
Next come the project documents. Who owns the plot and whether a bank holds a mortgage on it, what the permit was issued for, whether the number of floors in the permit matches the number being sold. An apartment on a floor that is not in the permit can wait years for commissioning and registration. The full checking procedure is described on our page about developer due diligence.
How to follow the build when you are far away
The contract is a promise, and the site shows how it is being kept. Are people working, how many floors have gone up in a quarter, has the crane been standing idle for months. We visit the site on a schedule and send photos with a short note: what has been done, whether it matches the schedule in the contract, what has changed since last time.
We also compare what is visible from outside with what the developer reports. If the newsletter says “finishing works are under way” while the façade still has no windows, that is a reason to ask questions before the next payment, not after it. We keep every message from the developer with promises and new dates: they will be useful in a dispute.
Waiting costs money
The off-plan price is lower, but before your first day in the apartment you pay for a lot more. While the building goes up, you rent somewhere to live or earn nothing from letting. After completion come the handover, the renovation of the shell, furniture and appliances, and that is several more months. Over years of waiting both labour and materials get more expensive.
So we do not compare the off-plan price with the price of a finished apartment; we compare the full amount over time: payments, rent or lost income, renovation and furniture. Sometimes the gap with an apartment in a completed building next door turns out smaller than the price list suggests, especially if completion slips by a year or two.
We look at the payment schedule separately. Developers usually quote prices in dollars, your income may be in another currency, and over a few years the exchange rate has time to drift. If the last large payment falls at completion, you will also need money for the renovation at that moment. We plan both expenses together so that you do not end up holding the keys to a bare shell with nothing left for the finishing.
If construction stops
Delays do happen in Batumi, and what matters is what the contract says about them. It is good if there is a penalty for each month of delay and a right to suspend payments when the build falls clearly behind schedule. It is bad if only the buyer has obligations and the developer has nothing more than an “estimated date”.
If the building stalls, the options are few: claim the penalty, agree a new date, terminate the contract with a refund on its terms, or sell your rights by assignment if the contract allows it. The more of these routes are built in at signing, the calmer you will be later.
How much it costs to check an off-plan apartment
A developer check, covering the company, the plot, the permit, court cases and completed buildings, starts from 1 200 ₾. A review of the sale contract for the future apartment or of a payment plan contract starts from 660 ₾. Property search for a fixed fee starts from 5 400 ₾, or we work as a buyer's agent for 2–3 % of the price. Handover inspection of the finished apartment with an engineer at completion starts from 480 ₾ per property.
The final price is set after we review the project and agree the scope of work. The registry fee and the notary's charges are paid at their own rates.
Questions and answers
How much does it cost to check an off-plan apartment in Batumi?
A developer check starts from 1 200 ₾: the company, the plot, the permit, court cases and completed buildings. A review of the sale contract for the future apartment or of a payment plan contract starts from 660 ₾, and handover inspection of the finished apartment with an engineer from 480 ₾.
Property search for a fixed fee starts from 5 400 ₾, or 2–3 % of the price as a buyer's agent. The final price is set after we review the project and agree the scope of work.
How much cheaper is an off-plan apartment than one in a completed building?
There is no single figure: the gap depends on the developer, the stage, the area and how close the building is to completion. As a rule, the earlier the stage, the bigger the gap and the longer you wait.
It is worth comparing the full amount rather than price lists: the price, rent or lost income over the years of waiting, the renovation of the shell and the furniture. We run that calculation for specific apartments, and sometimes an apartment in a completed building nearby turns out to be the better buy.
Can I sell the apartment before the building is completed?
Yes, if the contract allows assignment. In that case you sell not the apartment but your rights under the contract with the developer, and the buyer carries on paying to the schedule. We check whether the developer's consent is needed and whether they charge for it.
If the contract has no assignment clause, selling the apartment before it is fully paid and registered will be difficult. That is worth finding out before signing, not when a buyer turns up.
How do I know the developer is keeping to the schedule?
Look at the site, not the newsletter. How many floors have gone up in recent months, are people working, is there machinery on site, have the façade and windows started when the schedule says they should. Photos taken from the same spot once a quarter show the pace well.
If construction is clearly behind, that is a reason to ask the developer for a new date in writing and to reread the delay clauses of the contract before the next payment.
What happens to my money if the developer goes bankrupt?
In the usual payment plan scheme there is no escrow: the money goes straight to the developer, so the only protection comes from the contract and from checking the company before you buy. If the project has a bank account arrangement or a guarantee, that will be visible in the contract.
So the main protection works in advance: a developer with completed buildings, a plot without disputed mortgages, a permit for the number of floors being sold and a contract with clear refund terms.