Why Georgian property has its own vocabulary
Georgian deals are documented in Georgian, by institutions with Georgian names, using finishing levels and contract types that have no exact match in other markets. A buyer who knows forty terms reads a registry extract, a developer's price list and a sale contract without a translator at their elbow. This glossary gives each term one definition, one example and the same rendering in all five languages used on this site.
Most mistakes we see in foreign buyers' deals are not legal mistakes; they are vocabulary mistakes. A buyer hears "white frame" and imagines a finished apartment. A buyer reads "encumbrance" on a translation and does not know it means a mortgage is registered on the property. A buyer signs a "preliminary agreement" thinking it is a reservation, when it is a binding contract. The glossary exists to close that gap before money moves. Every entry is short on purpose: a one-sentence definition first, then how the term works in Georgia specifically, an example with no invented numbers, where you will meet the term in a real document, and a link to the guide that treats the subject in depth.
The term families, and what each one protects you from
| Registry and title | Public Registry, cadastral code, registry extract, encumbrance, seizure, share of ownership. These terms decide whether the person selling owns the thing being sold and whether anyone else has a claim on it. They protect you from paying the wrong person or inheriting someone else's debt. |
|---|---|
| Documents and representation | Power of attorney, apostille, consular legalisation, notary, certified translation. These decide whether your documents are accepted and whether a person acting for you can bind you. They protect you from a deal that stalls at the Public Service Hall or from a representative with more power than you meant to give. |
| Buildings and construction | Black, white and green frame, off-plan, construction permit, construction stage, handover, homeowners association, seismic norm. These decide what you receive and when. They protect you from paying a finished-apartment price for a shell. |
| Deals and money | Reservation, preliminary agreement, sale contract, instalment plan, deposit, staged payment, penalty clause. These decide when your obligations begin and what happens if either side stops. They protect you from a "refundable" deposit that is not. |
| Residency and tax | Residence permit, investment residence permit, work permit, accredited appraiser, threshold, tax residency, double taxation treaty. These decide whether the purchase gives you the legal status you wanted. They protect you from buying the wrong property for a permit you cannot get. |
| Market and returns | Rental yield, gross and net, vacancy, price per square metre, primary and secondary market, absorption, pipeline. These decide whether an investment number means what you think it means. They protect you from comparing a gross yield in one country with a net yield in another. |
What every entry contains
Definition in one sentence
The shortest accurate statement, written so that it can be quoted. If a term has an official legal definition, the entry says so and links to the law on the Legislative Herald of Georgia.
How it works in Georgia
One or two short paragraphs on the Georgian practice, which is often different from the home country's use of the same word. "Notary" in Georgia and "notary" in Israel, Germany or the United States are not the same job.
An example
A concrete situation, without invented figures: what the term looks like in a real extract, contract or brochure, and what a buyer should do when they meet it.
Where you will see it
The document, office or conversation where the term appears, so that you recognise it in context rather than in a list.
The term in five languages
The Georgian, English, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic renderings used consistently across this site, taken from our terminology table, so that any term you meet in a contract translation can be matched to the right entry.
The main guide
A link to the page that treats the subject in depth, because a glossary entry is a door and not a room.
Terms that are confused most often
Some pairs of terms cause more trouble than whole sections of the law, and they deserve a warning before the entries themselves are published. Reservation and preliminary agreement: the first holds a property for a short period for a small payment; the second is a binding contract to buy, with obligations on both sides, and the two are sometimes presented in the same document. Encumbrance and seizure: an encumbrance is any registered right of a third party, most often a mortgage, which can be cleared at the deal; a seizure is a court or tax authority freezing the property, and nothing moves until it is lifted. Registry extract and cadastral plan: the extract tells you who owns what and what is registered against it; the plan tells you where the boundaries are, and both are needed for a house with land. White frame and turnkey: the first is a shell prepared for renovation; the second is a finished apartment, and a price per square metre is meaningless until you know which one it refers to. Residence permit and residency: the first is a document issued by the state; the second is often used loosely for tax residency, which is a different test with different consequences. Each of these pairs gets a side-by-side note in the relevant entries.
Using the glossary while reading a contract
The glossary is most useful with a document open next to it, and a short routine makes the most of it. Read the document once without stopping, marking every term you are not certain of, including ones that look familiar; the familiar ones are the dangerous ones, because "deposit" or "notary" means something slightly different here. Then open each marked term's entry and read the "how it works in Georgia" paragraph before the definition, because that paragraph is where the local difference is explained. Compare the five-language line with the word in your translation: if the translator used a looser word, ask which term the Georgian original uses, since the Georgian text is the one that binds. For every term from the deals-and-money family, find the clause in the contract that governs it and check that the clause actually says what the term implies; a "refundable" reservation is only refundable if the clause says so. Finally, write down the three terms that matter most for your deal and ask your lawyer about them by name. A lawyer who hears "is the encumbrance in the extract a mortgage or a seizure, and will it be cleared before registration?" gives a better answer than one who hears "is everything okay?".
Five languages, one meaning
Because this site is written in five languages and because our clients sign Georgian contracts with translations, the glossary doubles as a terminology standard. A term is rendered the same way on every page in every language: the Public Registry is always საჯარო რეესტრი, Публичный реестр, המרשם הציבורי and السجل العام, never a looser synonym on one page and a stricter one on another. When a client receives a translated contract from a developer or a notary, the five-language line in each entry lets them check that the translator used the term the law uses. Where a term genuinely has no equivalent in a language, the entry says so and gives the Georgian term in transliteration with an explanation, rather than inventing a word that sounds right and means something else.
Where the definitions come from
Legal terms are defined from the Civil Code of Georgia, the Law on the Public Registry, the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons and the technical regulations on construction, as published on the Legislative Herald of Georgia, and the entries cite the article where one exists. Registry and procedural terms follow the National Agency of Public Registry's own usage. Construction terms follow the practice of Georgian developers, which is not codified, so those entries describe the common usage and warn where it varies. Market terms follow the definitions used by the research houses whose data this site relies on, Colliers Georgia, Galt & Taggart and TBC Capital, so that a yield in our glossary means what it means in their reports. Entries that touch law are reviewed by our partner lawyer before the review notice is removed, like every other legal page.
To be added by the team: article references for each legally defined term, with the Legislative Herald link, to be added entry by entry after lawyer review. The hub lists the term families; it does not define terms itself.
How this section is organised
The two groups above are the first entries to be published, chosen because they are the terms a buyer meets in the first week: the registry and document terms, then the building and deal terms. The full A to Z list follows as entries are written. Each entry is a short page of its own, so it can be linked from any guide, found by search and read in under two minutes. If you met a term that is not here, send it through the contact page with the document it came from, and it joins the queue. The guides that use these terms most are in Buying & law, New builds, Residency and Invest & money; the glossary links into them, and they link back.
Frequently asked questions
Why not just translate the contract?
A translation gives you the words; the glossary gives you what the words mean in Georgian practice. "Encumbrance", "white frame" or "preliminary agreement" translate cleanly and still mislead a buyer who does not know how they work here. Read the translation with the glossary open.
Are the definitions legally binding?
No. They are explanations written for buyers, checked against the law where a legal definition exists and reviewed by our partner lawyer. The binding text is the law and your contract. The entries link to the law so you can read the source.
Which terms should I learn first?
The registry and document family: Public Registry, cadastral code, registry extract, encumbrance, seizure, power of attorney, apostille, notary. With those eight you can read a title check. The building and deal family comes next if you are buying from a developer.
Do the Russian, Hebrew and Arabic terms match what notaries use?
They match the terminology table we use for our own clients' translations and across this site. Translators vary; the five-language line in each entry lets you check a translation you receive against the term the law uses.
Can I suggest a term?
Yes. Send the term and, if possible, the document it appeared in. Terms requested by readers are added before the rest of the planned list.
How are the entries kept current?
Entries that depend on a law or a threshold carry a last-checked date and return to review when the rule changes. Entries about practice are re-read when our team notices usage shifting, for example when developers start using a finishing label in a new way.
Sources
- Legislative Herald of Georgia (Civil Code, Law on the Public Registry, Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, construction regulations), matsne.gov.ge; article references are cited on the individual entries.
- National Agency of Public Registry, napr.gov.ge, for registry terminology.
- Market definitions follow the published reports of Colliers Georgia, Galt & Taggart and TBC Capital, cited on the Data & reports and Invest & money pages.