What a tool on this site is, and is not
A tool here is a small calculator or checker that runs entirely in your browser, shows every assumption it uses with its source, lets you change any of them, and labels every result an estimate. It is not advice, not a valuation and not a promise. Three tools are live, each on its own page; the others in the list above are built in the order readers ask for them.
Property websites are full of calculators that produce a confident number from hidden assumptions. Ours are built on the opposite principle: the assumptions are the product, and the number is just their consequence. When the yield calculator shows a net return, it also shows the vacancy rate, the management fee, the running costs and the tax line it used, each with a link to where the default came from and a field to change it. If you disagree with an assumption, you change it and the result changes with it. The point is to help you ask a lawyer, an accountant or a valuer a better question, not to replace them.
The three tools that are live
| Residence permit checker | You enter the market value of up to three non-agricultural properties in Georgia, and the checker tells you which permit route the total reaches: the property-based permit above $150,000 (since 1 March 2026), the investment permit above $300,000, or neither. It removes agricultural land, shows the agency fee, and adds notes on registration, the old $100,000 rule, family and the right to work. A short version sits on the home page. |
|---|---|
| Full buying cost calculator | You enter the price and the quotes you receive; the calculator adds the Public Registry fee by processing speed, VAT where it applies, the lawyer, notary, valuation, agent and bank lines, and the fit-out, and shows the total and the costs on top of the price as a share of it. |
| Rental yield and ROI calculator | You enter the total investment, the rent and the costs between gross and net; the calculator returns gross yield, net yield before and after the 5% rent tax, the payback period and the total return over the years you plan to hold, with a price change you set. Every line can be edited, and the results are labelled estimates. |
Rules every tool follows
Assumptions visible
Every default value is shown next to the result with its source and the date it was checked. Nothing is hidden in the code that is not on the screen.
Everything editable
Any input, including the defaults we chose, can be changed. The tool recalculates immediately and shows which of your inputs differ from the defaults.
Estimates labelled
Results are marked as estimates. No tool on this site describes a yield, a cost or a permit outcome as guaranteed, and the wording is checked for that.
Runs in your browser
The tools are plain JavaScript on the page. Your inputs are not sent to us or to anyone; close the page and they are gone, unless you choose to save a checklist locally.
Sources updated in one place
Thresholds, rates and averages come from the same facts register as the rest of the site, so that a change in the residency threshold updates the checker, the hub pages and the guides at once.
Reviewed like a page
Tools that touch law or tax are reviewed by the partner lawyer or the accountant, and show a review notice until they are.
The calculators, and what each is for
The full buying cost calculator adds up everything between the asking price and the keys: the registration fee by processing speed, notary, translation and legal costs, an agent's percentage if you pay one, bank transfer fees and the fit-out, so that two apartments at different finishing levels can be compared on a true total. The rental yield and ROI calculator takes that total and adds time: empty months, management, repairs, building charges, the 5% tax on residential rent, a price change you set and the number of years you plan to hold. The instalment calculator compares a developer's instalment price with the full-payment price and shows the implied cost of the credit, which is the number developers rarely print. The mortgage calculator does the same for a bank loan, where one is available to a foreign buyer. The Airbnb income forecast is the most assumption-heavy tool on the list and will show its seasonality and occupancy inputs more prominently than its result. The renovation budget calculator turns a white-frame area into a finishing cost range by standard. The cost of living calculator lets a household build a monthly budget by category from the dated prices on the Living in Georgia pages. The currency and transfer calculator shows what a sum in your currency becomes in dollars and lari at the indicative rate and what typical transfer costs do to it.
To be added by the team: the default values for each calculator still to come (renovation costs, living costs, transfer costs) with their official or published sources and dates, confirmed by the accountant where tax is involved. No calculator is published with defaults that are not sourced.
The checkers and checklists
Checkers answer yes-or-no questions; checklists make sure nothing is forgotten. The residence permit eligibility checker is live and described above. The developer checklist turns the twenty questions from the New builds section into a form you can tick through for a specific developer and save in your browser. The contract checklist does the same for a sale contract or a developer's contract: each protective clause as a line, with a short note on what to look for and what a weak version of the clause looks like. The district quiz asks what the property is for, how you move around, what noise and newness you accept and what you can spend, and points you to two or three district pages rather than a single answer. The interactive price map will show the published city and district averages with their dates and sources on a map, and nothing else. The country comparison tool will let you pick two countries and see the nine comparison criteria side by side, drawn from the comparison pages, with the same sourcing.
How to read a result
A tool's result is only as good as the worst assumption in it, so the habit to form is to read the assumptions before the number. When the yield calculator shows a net yield, look at the vacancy line first: a month of vacancy a year is one assumption, three months is another, and a short-term rental in a seasonal city may stand empty for longer. Look at the management fee next, then at the running costs you may have forgotten: building charges, insurance, replacement of furniture, utilities when they are included in the rent. Then look at the exchange rate, because a dollar purchase price and a lari rent make the result move with the currency. Only then look at the yield, and compare it with the published averages on the Invest & money page, remembering that the published figure is gross. If your result is far above the average, an assumption is probably optimistic; if it is far below, you may have found an expensive building or an honest answer.
Which tool answers which question
| "Does my budget reach a residence permit?" | Residence permit checker, then the Residency pages for the conditions the checker cannot test, such as the land type and the appraiser's value. |
|---|---|
| "What will this apartment really cost me?" | Full buying cost calculator, plus the renovation budget calculator for a white frame once it is published. |
| "What will it earn?" | The rental yield and ROI calculator, for one year or several; the Airbnb forecast only for short-term rentals, with its seasonality inputs read carefully. |
| "Instalments or pay in full?" | Instalment calculator, which shows the implied cost of the developer's credit against the full-payment price. |
| "Is this developer safe?" | Developer checklist, with the twenty questions from the New builds section, saved in your browser as you go. |
| "Which district?" | District quiz, which sends you to two or three district pages rather than a single answer. |
| "Georgia or somewhere else?" | Country comparison tool, drawing the nine criteria from the comparison pages with their sources. |
Used in this order, the tools mirror the order of a real decision: whether the purchase does what you need, what it costs, what it earns, how to pay, whom to buy from and where. Each tool links to the next question's tool and to the guide that explains the subject, so that a reader who starts with the checker can reach a shortlist of districts without leaving the site or guessing at a single figure.
Privacy and what we store
Because the tools run in your browser, we do not see what you enter. The only thing a tool may store is a checklist's ticks, saved in your own browser so that you can return to it, and you can clear that at any time. We do not use tool inputs to profile visitors or to pass leads to developers. What the site does collect, which is very little, is described on the privacy page; if you want a human to go through your numbers with you, the WhatsApp button and the consultation page are the route, and you decide what to share.
How this section is organised
The first group lists the calculators, the second the checkers and checklists, each in the order we plan to publish them; the three live tools are linked in the lists and in the table at the top of this page. The data behind the tools lives in Data & reports; the explanation of the subjects they calculate lives in Invest & money, Residency and Buying & law. If a tool you need is not on the list, tell us what question it should answer; the order of publication follows what readers ask for.
Frequently asked questions
Are the calculator results accurate?
They are exactly as accurate as the assumptions you leave in them. The defaults are sourced and dated, but your apartment, your tenant and your costs are specific. Change the inputs to your case and treat the output as an estimate, which is how it is labelled.
Does the residence permit checker give a decision?
No. It compares a value with the current thresholds and tells you which route that value reaches. The Public Service Development Agency makes the decision, working from the file you lodge, and the value that counts is an accredited appraiser's, not your contract price.
Do you see what I type into the tools?
No. The tools run in your browser and send nothing to us. Only a checklist's ticks may be saved locally in your browser, and you can clear them.
Why is a tool on the list not available yet?
Because its default values are not yet sourced and, where tax is involved, not yet confirmed by our accountant. We publish a tool when every default on its screen has a source, not before.
Can I use the tools in Georgian, Russian, Hebrew or Arabic?
Yes. Every tool exists on each language version of the site with the same logic and the same sources; only the labels change.
Can I rely on a tool instead of an accountant?
No. A tool shows you the shape of the answer and the questions to ask. Tax, legal and valuation questions for your own case need a professional, and we say so on every tool.
Sources
- Residence permit thresholds used by the checker: Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, Article 15(h) and (j), matsne.gov.ge, consolidated 25 June 2026, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Default exchange rate used by the calculators: 2.624 GEL per USD, the National Bank of Georgia's official rate on 4 August 2026, via GBC, gbc.ge, accessed 12 October 2026; current official rates at nbg.gov.ge.
- Average prices, rents and gross yields used for the defaults and for comparison: Galt & Taggart via GBC, gbc.ge, 22 January 2026, accessed 12 October 2026.