A review is a visit, written down
A project review on this site is published only after a member of our team has stood on the site, photographed the construction with dates, read the permits and read the sales contract. It follows one fixed structure so that two projects can be compared line by line. No review is sponsored, no developer pays for one, and every developer can comment next to it. If we have not visited, there is no review.
The difference between a project review and a listing is the difference between a witness and a salesman. A listing tells you what the developer wants you to see; a review tells you what we saw, on a date, with photographs, and what the paper said when we read it. Reviews are the slowest content on this site to produce, because each one costs a visit, a permit check and a contract reading, and that is why the list above is short. It will grow at the pace of visits, not at the pace of launches.
The structure every review follows
| 1. Location and transport | Where the project is, how you reach it, what is around it today and what is planned next to it, with a link to the district page. |
|---|---|
| 2. Developer | Who is building it, with a link to the developer's profile and a one-line summary of the delivery record. |
| 3. Permits | Which permit we checked, when, and whether it matches the building being sold: floors, use, plot. |
| 4. Construction stage | What stage the building was at on the date of our visit, with dated photographs, and the delivery date currently promised. |
| 5. Finishing | What finishing level is sold, what the specification lists, and what a finished example looked like if one exists. |
| 6. Prices and payment terms | The price range per square metre quoted on the date of our visit, the instalment terms offered, and what the contract said about changes. |
| 7. Rental potential | What kind of tenant or guest the building suits and what the district's published rent context is, labelled as an estimate. |
| 8. Risks | What could go wrong with this specific project, named plainly: permit mismatch, delay history, unsold stock, construction nearby, management after handover. |
| 9. What we would ask before signing | The specific questions a buyer should put to this developer about this project, drawn from everything above. |
What happens on a visit
Before going
We read the permit, the developer's profile if it exists and the sales material, and order the registry extract for the site's cadastral code, so that we arrive knowing what the paper says and what to compare it with.
On site
Our property adviser photographs the building from the street, the entrance, the stairwell and lifts if accessible, the floor being sold, the view from it, and the surroundings, each photograph dated. We count what we can: floors built against floors permitted, workers on site, cranes moving or still.
In the sales office
We ask for the specification, the contract template, the current price list and the payment schedule, and we note the answers to the questions in the developer checklist, including the ones that were not answered.
Writing up
The review is written to the structure above, with every statement tied to a photograph, a document or a dated conversation. Statements we cannot support are left out.
Right of reply
The developer receives the draft and may comment. The comment is published next to the review, with its date; corrections with evidence change the text.
Follow-up
Projects under construction are revisited; each visit adds dated photographs, and the review's change log records what changed between visits, including delivery dates that moved.
Reading a review in five minutes
Because every review has the same nine sections, a reader in a hurry can go straight to the ones that decide their case. Start with section three, permits: if the permit does not match the building being sold, nothing else in the review matters until that is explained. Go to section eight, risks, which is written to be read on its own and names the specific problems we saw or could not rule out. Then read section four, construction stage, and look at the dates on the photographs against the delivery date promised; the gap between the two is the delay you are being asked to accept. Only then read sections six and seven, prices and rental potential, because a price is only interesting for a building that will be finished and can be let. Section nine, the questions to ask, is the part to print and take to the sales office. The first two sections, location and developer, are context, and they link to the district page and the developer profile where the detail lives. A full reading takes longer and is worth it before signing, but the five-minute route is designed to tell you quickly whether this project deserves the longer one.
What a review is not
A review is not a recommendation to buy or not to buy. It describes a project at a date with evidence; the decision depends on your purpose, your budget and your tolerance for the risks named. It is not a valuation: the price range is what the developer quoted on the day, not our opinion of what the apartment is worth. It is not a guarantee of anything, least of all a delivery date, which belongs to the developer and the contract. It is not complete: a project changes between visits, and the review describes the last one. And it is not a substitute for your own legal check of your own contract, which is the service described on the services page. Reading a review before that check makes the check faster and the questions sharper, which is its purpose.
Photographs, dates and honesty
Every photograph in a review carries the date it was taken, and we keep the originals so that a later visit can be set beside an earlier one. We photograph what a buyer would see, not what a brochure would show: the building from the pavement rather than from a drone, the actual view from the floor on sale rather than the render, the car park and the bins as well as the lobby. If access was refused, the review says so. If a developer showed us a finished apartment, the review says whether it was a show flat or a delivered one. If a visit was arranged by the developer, the review says that too, because a tour arranged by the seller shows a different site from a walk-in on a weekday afternoon. These details are small, and they are the whole difference between a review and an advertisement.
Independence
No developer pays for a review, and a review is never withheld or softened because a developer is a client or might become one. Our agency earns commissions from developers when a client buys through us, as most agencies in Georgia do; how that works and how we keep it away from what we publish is set out on the independence page. The practical safeguards for reviews are three: the structure is fixed, so a review cannot quietly leave out a risk section; every statement needs evidence, so praise and criticism meet the same test; and the developer's comment is published unedited, so a reader sees both sides. If you believe a review is unfair in either direction, the report-an-error page reaches the editor, and the correction, if one is made, is logged on the review.
To be added by the team: the first reviews, each requiring a site visit with dated photographs, a permit check and a reading of the sales contract. Under the site's rules a review is published only after the team's visit notes exist; none are published from desk research. The three items in the "Planned" group above are placeholders for the cities, not reviews.
Requesting a review
If you are considering a specific project and want it reviewed, send its name, the developer and, if you have it, the cadastral code through the contact page or on WhatsApp. Requests decide the order of visits. A review takes days, not hours, because of the visit and the paper; if your decision cannot wait, the same check is done privately and faster for clients as part of the legal check service, and the private check is not published. Reviews of projects in Gudauri, Bakuriani and on the coast follow the same method, with the addition of a section on off-season management, because in a resort the building's winter is as important as its summer.
How this section is organised
Reviews will be grouped by city: Tbilisi, Batumi, and the resorts and coast. The "Read first" group links the three pages that make a review easier to use: how to check a developer, what the finishing levels mean, and what to look at during each construction stage. Developer profiles, which collect the record across all of a company's projects, are in Developers; the explanation of frames, stages and contracts is in New builds; the district context for each project is in Places. A review links to all three and repeats none of them.
Frequently asked questions
Are the reviews sponsored?
No. No developer pays for a review, and reviews are not softened for clients or prospective clients. The developer may comment, and the comment is published next to the review with its date.
Why are there so few reviews?
Because each one requires a visit, a permit check and a contract reading, and we do not publish reviews from desk research. The list grows at the pace of visits, in the order readers request.
Can you review a project I am considering?
Yes. Send the project name, developer and cadastral code if you have it. If you cannot wait for a published review, the same check is done privately for clients as part of the legal check service.
Do reviews say whether to buy?
No. They describe the project at a date with evidence and list the questions to ask before signing. Whether to buy depends on your purpose, budget and tolerance for the risks named.
What if a project changes after the review?
Projects under construction are revisited, each visit adds dated photographs, and the change log records what moved, including delivery dates. The review always states the date of the last visit.
Can a developer have a review removed?
No. A developer can comment, and a factual correction with evidence changes the text. A review is withdrawn only if we find we were wrong on the facts, and the withdrawal is noted.
Sources
- Permits and registry data for each reviewed project: National Agency of Public Registry, napr.gov.ge, and the municipal permit records cited on each review.
- District rent and price context used in the rental potential section: Colliers Georgia and Galt & Taggart, cited on the Places and Invest & money pages.