The job of a real estate agent in Georgia

Welcome to the course. Over eight short lessons you will learn how real estate work is done in Georgia, the country in the Caucasus with its capital in Tbilisi and its seaside city of Batumi, not the US state. This first lesson is about the job itself: what an agent does, who may do it, who pays, who hires and what the first year really looks like.

An open profession, with one new gate

Georgia has no state licence for real estate agents and no regulator of the profession. The clearest evidence comes from MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body: its December 2024 report says real estate agents are not designated as obliged entities, so there is no supervisor for them. A 2026 ranking of Tbilisi agencies adds that agent commission is not regulated either (TbilisiExperts, July 2026).

So in Georgia, nobody issues you a card, and no exam stands between you and your first listing. What exists is voluntary: the Georgian National Association of Real Estate (GNARE), founded in 2014, runs a certification course and publishes a list of certified agents (lesson 3).

The new gate is for foreigners. Since 1 March 2026, most foreigners without permanent residence need a work permit, the “Right to Engage in Labour Activity”, for paid work, freelancing or running a business, including self-employment (Fragomen, November 2025; Legal.ge, February 2026). A visa-free stay or a residence card alone no longer gives the right to work. Lesson 2 covers it in full.

So in Georgia:

• Georgian citizens and permanent residents can start as agents with no licence.
• Foreigners can work as agents too, employed or self-employed, but only with a work permit.

What an agent actually does

On a resale, the agent usually works for the seller and:

1. Wins the listing and agrees the commission in writing (lesson 4).
2. Checks the owner and the property in the Public Registry before advertising it.
3. Prices the property, photographs it and publishes it on the portals.
4. Qualifies buyers and runs the viewings.
5. Negotiates the price and terms, and follows the file to registration at the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) (lesson 6).

On a new build, the agent sells a developer’s units, very often off plan. On a rental, the agent finds tenants for a landlord, or a flat for a tenant.

Who hires

You will meet three main types of employer:

• Tbilisi agencies, such as Tbilisi Property, Vestin Property, Realtor.ge, Home24 or BD Realty, and franchise offices such as RE/MAX Realty Park in Saburtalo.
• Batumi agencies, such as Batumi Residence, Batumi Real Estate or the Batumi office of BD Realty, many of them selling to foreign buyers in Russian and English over WhatsApp and Telegram.
• Developers and their sales teams, since a large share of sales is off plan.

GNARE’s members on its own site include Alliance Group, Citybroker, Dream Homes, Elite Property, Hestia, Linova Real Estate, Bloomer Properties and Brix Estate.

How you get paid

There is no legal rate. The sources we used describe a clear norm:

• Resales: most agents charge about 3%, negotiable and usually paid by the seller (ExpatHub, 2025). GeorgiaExpats (2026) gives 2% to 3%, paid by the seller.
• New builds: the buyer usually pays nothing, and the developer pays the agency (TbilisiExperts).
• Rentals: usually 50% of one month’s rent, paid by the tenant (Madloba, October 2026).

The commission goes to the agency, and your share depends on your contract. We found no published data on agent splits or salaries in Georgia, so ask every employer for its figures in writing (lesson 8). Test your own numbers in the commission calculator.

Two markets, two kinds of buyer

• Tbilisi sold 42,388 apartments in 2025, up 4.3% (Galt & Taggart, January 2026). Most buyers are Georgian.
• Batumi sold 17,478 apartments in 2025, up 15%, and foreigners bought 52% of them (Investor.ge, April 2026).

Lesson 5 goes deeper. For now, remember that Tbilisi is a local market with foreign investors on top, and Batumi is a resort market where foreign buyers lead.

A realistic first year

• The start is slow. No deal, no commission, and your first deals take time to close. Plan your savings for a slow first season.
• Languages pay. Georgian for owners and the registry, English and Russian for many foreign buyers, and Hebrew or Ukrainian can help in Batumi (lesson 5).
• Prices are quoted in dollars, adverts in lari. Businesses must advertise prices in GEL, even though most property is priced and paid in USD in practice (lesson 4).
• Due diligence is your edge. With no licence and no escrow law, the agents who check the registry and the developer are the ones clients trust.

What comes next

In lesson 2 we look at who may work, and what the 2026 work permit means for foreigners. To see open roles now, browse jobs and compare employers on agencies.

This lesson is general information, not legal or immigration advice. CloserPass is not affiliated with GNARE, NAPR or any government body in Georgia. Rules and figures change, so check the official source before you act.