A "10% yield" apartment in Batumi: three real listings
By the advertising formula the three apartments yield 10 to 11%. Net to you in the first year: 6.3 to 6.8% of the money invested. Over 10 years without a sale, 5.3 to 7.6% a year, or 2.3 to 4.6% after inflation. With a sale after 10 years, 7.4 to 9.7%. The cheapest square metre in the set gave the lowest yield.
Deal Breakdown · part 2 · a 5-minute read
📌 The apartments
Owner listings on korter.ge, collected on 7 October 2026 and still live on 8 October 2026.
| Studio | One-room | Two-room | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building | STEPS, airport district | Black Sea Avangard, airport district | Calligraphy Towers, Bagrationi |
| What is on sale | 31 m², completed 2024, furnished | 34 m², completed 2024, renovated, no furniture | 55.9 m², completion Q4 2026, shell condition |
| Price | $55,000 | $59,000 | $69,900 |
| Per m² | $1,774 | $1,735 | $1,250 |
Prices as of 7 October 2026. By 8 October the seller of the one-room apartment had cut the price to $58,000; the calculation below uses $59,000, and the difference in yield is within a tenth of a percentage point.
Rent: the middle of 20 korter.ge listings, $450, $500 and $650 a month.
1️⃣ Purchase
| Studio | One-room | Two-room | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $55,000 | $59,000 | $69,900 |
| Registration | $55 | $55 | $55 |
| Finishing ($150 per m²) | — | — | $8,385 |
| Furniture | included | $5,000 | $6,000 |
| Total invested | $55,055 | $64,055 | $84,340 |
| First tenant | at once | at once | after six months |
🔴 The two-room apartment has the cheapest metre, but its entry cost is 21% higher, and for six months it does not bring in a dollar.
2️⃣ Ownership
| Per year | Studio | One-room | Two-room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building fees (about $0.7 per m² a month) | $260 | $286 | $470 |
| Property tax | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Property tax is zero if household income is below 40,000 GEL a year. In serviced buildings in Batumi the building fee runs from $0.4 to $2 per m².
3️⃣ Rental
| Full year of letting | Studio | One-room | Two-room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months of rent | $5,400 | $6,000 | $7,800 |
| "As advertised" | 9.8% | 10.2% | 11.2% |
| Month without a tenant | −$450 | −$500 | −$650 |
| Letting fee | −$450 | −$500 | −$650 |
| 5% tax | −$248 | −$275 | −$358 |
| Repairs, 5% of rent | −$248 | −$275 | −$358 |
| Building fees | −$260 | −$286 | −$470 |
| Net to you | $3,744 | $4,164 | $5,314 |
| On money invested | 6.8% | 6.5% | 6.3% |
In its first year of ownership the two-room apartment stands empty for six months, so that year nets $2,227.
✔️ The 5% tax applies if you are in the landlord register; otherwise 20% on profit. On a long-term let the tenant pays the utilities.
🔴 If the tenant pays 15% less than advertised, the studio keeps 5.7% instead of 6.8%.
Calculate this studio with your own figures →
4️⃣ After 10 years
| % a year | Studio | One-room | Two-room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hold and rent out | 7.6% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| After inflation | 4.6% | 3.7% | 2.3% |
| Rent out and sell | 9.7% | 8.8% | 7.4% |
| After inflation | 6.6% | 5.7% | 4.4% |
| Payback from rent | 12.5 years | 12.8 years | 13.8 years |
Rent and costs grow with dollar inflation, 2.9% a year. The apartment price grows 4.3% a year, by Georgia's official statistics. On sale: 5% haggling discount, 3% agent, six months. The two-room apartment is sold without counting the finishing.
🔴 An urgent sale of the studio after one year at a 15% discount: the result is −7.8% of the money invested.
The same $55,000 elsewhere
| Where | % a year | After inflation |
|---|---|---|
| Studio, hold and rent out | 7.6% | 4.6% |
| Studio, rent out and sell | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| US-dollar deposit in Georgia | 2.0% | −0.9% |
| US government bonds, 10 years | 4.2% | 1.3% |
| S&P 500 fund | 9.9% | 6.8% |
The fund: average over the years 1928 to 2025, after a 0.1% fee; from 2000 to 2009 it lost 1.0% a year.
📌 A cheap metre is not a profitable apartment
The two-room apartment is 30% cheaper per metre than the studio. By 10-year yield it comes last: 5.3% against 7.6%. Finishing, furniture and six months without a tenant ate the difference. Look not at the price of a metre but at what a metre earns. More in the column "The cheap square metre".
💡 In short
- The "10 to 12%" in the ad is rent divided by price. Net to you: 6 to 7% in the first year.
- On rent alone the fund beats all three apartments. With a sale and price growth the studio draws level with it.
- If you are a tax resident of Russia, Israel or Kazakhstan, you will most likely owe tax on this rent at home too. It is not in these figures.
- Every apartment is counted on its own. The studio's figures are already in the calculator; replace them with yours.
Run the numbers before you sign.
The calculator with this property's figures
The same calculation as on the home page. Change any figure — the answer recounts.
Free: the calculation on the home page, no sign-up. The full calculation of one apartment against a deposit, bonds and a fund, after signing up with your e-mail.
Subscription, $10 a month or $89 a year: all three apartments side by side in one comparison, an A4 report for negotiating the price, the price at which the apartment matches the alternative, "What if…" scenarios.
If you prove us wrong, we will say so.
REAL ESTATE I YIELD I TAXES · Levelvale
Questions and answers
Is it true that yields in Batumi are 10 to 12%?
By the advertising formula, yes: 10 to 11% for the apartments in this set. After costs, 6.3 to 6.8% reaches you in the first year.
Which is better, an apartment in Batumi or a fund?
On rent alone, the fund. With a sale after 10 years and price growth of 4.3% a year, the studio and the fund are almost equal. The fund has no tenants, but the past has no guarantee of repeating either.
What tax does a foreigner pay on rent in Georgia?
5% of the rent if you are in the landlord register; otherwise 20% on profit. Tax in your country of residence is separate.
Sources
- Listings on korter.ge: STEPS (853414), Black Sea Avangard (672179), Calligraphy Towers (880714), collected 7 October 2026, still live on 8 October 2026 · 2026-10-08
- Rent: korter.ge, 20 long-term rental listings in Batumi · 2026-10-07
- Advertising: agency website, 25 September 2025 (agency not named) · 2025-09-25
- Rental tax: Tax Code of Georgia, art. 81(2); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Georgia · 2026
- Building fees: buyhome.ge · 2026-10
- Finishing from $150 per m²: realux.site · 2026-10
- Title registration, 150 GEL: napr.gov.ge · 2026-10
- Price growth, inflation, deposit, bonds, fund: sources inside the Levelvale calculator; calculation: Levelvale engine, run on 8 October 2026 · 2026-10-08
This is a calculation, not investment, tax or legal advice.
Read also
The 10% yield apartment: what you really get to keepThe ads promise 10 to 12% a year. We count it stage by stage, purchase, ownership, rental, sale: what the owner keeps, and what a deposit, bonds and a fund would have paid.
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