I noticed that on the Russian-language Internet people continue to read with interest about the experience of renting abroad.
I’ve been to different countries and have already told you how Airbnb screwed me over in a dirty hotel in Istanbul and how much a bomb shelter in a Tel Aviv penthouse cost.
But today I will share my experience of a long-term contract for an ordinary apartment in Georgia, my most recent experience of renting housing outside of Russia.
I’ll tell you how prices have changed, where I looked for an apartment, what the requirements are for tenants, and the pitfalls in contracts
Note. We will talk about the state of the market and rental rules in Tbilisi in March 2024.
The panic of renting has subsided since the fall of 2022, prices have stabilized, but access to critical information has also decreased, since the Russian-speaking community has significantly decreased – people have left.
Content:
Before the contract, I changed three apartments through Airbnb
Filmed in these areas
Georgia was supposed to be a temporary place for me to “reboot”.
Not fully understanding the future duration of recovery, I flew to Tbilisi, already familiar to me, in January 2024, expecting to stay here for a couple of weeks at most. But in the end I stayed longer, and I have been here for seven months.
During this time, I had four apartments: rented through Airbnb for two weeks, for a week and a half, for a month, and the fourth was already under contract. The experience was different everywhere.
Apartment 1. Almost a perfect break
The first apartment was a nice, brand new one-room apartment in the center of Tbilisi. Winter, off-season, the owner confirmed the reservation immediately with a 5% discount. Paid 318 euros for almost two weeks, including all additional fees.
Check-in was as simple as possible: a woman met us and gave us the keys. We made arrangements via Airbnb chat, so we needed Wi-Fi or mobile connection.
Inside, I was immediately pleased by the excellent kitchen with a large table, a huge TV with YouTube, aromatic candles in the bathroom, a view of Mtatsminda and the TV tower.
The layout was a bit irritating: a separate good, relatively large kitchen and a living room combined with a bedroom, where there was a TV, a sofa, wardrobes, but there was also a huge bed with bedside tables in the back.
There was a strange feeling that something was wrong with the bed placement, although it looked fine. Apparently, there is something in the need to observe Feng Shui, otherwise I can’t explain the discomfort. The second small nitpick is the noise from the road. The windows worked well, but were far from ideal.
I did a good job here. Among other things, I reviewed an anti-apnea app and told how to transfer files from Android to Mac.
Time passed quickly and, realizing that I would have to stay in the country for another 10 nights, I rented an apartment a little further from the center in a fairly quiet area, although still close to everything.
Apartment 2. A quiet place in a shack
The second apartment was already a European two-room apartment, more spacious and with a traditional layout. The long hall is combined with the kitchen and bar island, and the bedroom is separate. Both rooms have panoramic windows with an exit to a huge combined balcony.
The renovation was more shabby, and overall it felt like no one had stayed there for a couple of months. However, the huge sofa, large TV, round table and paintings by a local artist still created a cozy atmosphere.
The accommodation was in a small apartment complex, which, it is unclear, had recently opened, because the entrance was unfinished, or had been there for a long time, since the apartment was clearly not the first freshness. At the same time, the complex is located in a completely quiet area on a hill.
Here I felt like I was at the edge of the world, and from the huge balcony I could see half of Tbilisi. And the city center and grocery stores were a 5-minute walk away.
It was nice, in general. I wrote here about my experience using Crossover (I took off the main one in my first apartment) and made a review of the legendary rag from Apple after two years of use.
It was time to move out, but I still wasn’t ready to fly.
Besides, my birthday was approaching, so I decided to find an apartment for at least a month, so that I could stop forcing myself to move around in a chaotic manner.
Apartment 3. “Brothel” without dirt. Almost
Sometimes Airbnb offers good discounts for monthly rentals, so my next apartment cost me about half as much as my previous options.
For 29 nights in February I paid 564 euros, which, given the exchange rate at the time, was 60,000 rubles. With all the fees, utilities and cleaning.
Perhaps I was lucky, since I would have had to renew the lease for 1000 euros, which was already an inadequate price for the condition of the property.
On the one hand, there was a nice homely atmosphere and pleasant new furniture, but on the other hand, there were systemic problems that began to irritate me greatly within a month.
Water was constantly leaking from the walls in the bathroom, first on one side, then on the other. That is, there was not a single day when the floor was dry. The water, fortunately, was clean, but wiping it and slipping on it every time was annoying.
The doors were annoying. The entrance door was locked with one old large key and was constantly shaking due to the draft, and the balcony door didn’t close tightly at all and let in the cold and noise from the road.
In the kitchen, a slight smell of mold was coming from the drawer near the sink, which was completely unacceptable.
At the same time, a comfortable bedroom, good layout, plenty of closets, tables, chairs and other cozy furniture along with all the bed linen compensated for these disadvantages. The month passed quickly.
The funniest thing was that about half of the entrance was in such Airbnb apartments, and this is not typical for such “sleeping” areas. At the same time, it looks like an ordinary house both outside and inside. However, the caretaker is constantly driving between the floors, and in a month I have changed at least 7 neighbors.
I may have been one of the longest tenants there, and that caused the price to go up the following month. I had neither the desire nor the opportunity to pay 100,000 rubles for such accommodation, but I still had no intention of leaving the city.
I analyzed the situation and decided to look for a long-term contract. I had previously had simply disgusting experiences in similar housing relationships, but in Georgia everything went smoothly.
Now I will explain what the problem was in Turkey and Israel, and then I will tell you about the local experience in Tbilisi.
A short note about the stolen deposit in other countries
In Istanbul and Tel Aviv, at the congress, I they cheated me out of money.
The Istanbul agency violated the contract and did not return 30,000 rubles from the deposit of 60,000 rubles because they did not want to terminate the contract early (with a one and a half month notice), although according to the contract they were supposed to.
In Tel Aviv, the penthouse was run by a writer whose popularity outside of Israel was fading, who was used to behaving like a spoiled high society girl who was losing money quickly. After the outbreak of hostilities in the country, she also violated our contract and refused to return the 70,000 rubles deposit. I tried to find a replacement after leaving, but, as you understand, in those conditions it was useless, no one responded. Oh well, when I return, I will test the local law enforcement system on her.
After such absolutely disgusting thefts of 100,000 rubles I didn’t want to test the rental system in yet another new country.
But the decision was made, and even the less than smooth ride still leaves hope for a peaceful end to the lease in Georgia. Here’s how it all turned out.
I rent a room in Israel for 90 thousand rubles. What does it look like, what is included
Apartment 4. The best contract of my life so far.
We quickly reached an agreement with a realtor in Georgia
I started looking for an apartment (and finished it two days later) in local Russian-language chats.
Suitable groups were found right away. They post photos of apartments, the area and write prices. Mostly there were options from 800 dollars (yes, not in local lari), but there were also more adequate options.
I saw a nice two-room apartment for $400 and wrote to the realtor.
An important feature. In Georgia, the landlord, not the tenant, pays for the realtor’s services.
A pleasant surprise for me, as the communication was relaxed and the agent did not try to push the first apartment he came across on me. I also assume that in the future it will be easier to extend the contract, as the owner will not want to pay the realtor again.
It turned out that the apartment was already occupied. The other options were too expensive for me, to which the realtor suggested that I describe my request and wait to see if other options come up.
The first apartment was no longer there, but the second one turned out to be an ideal option.
Literally a couple of hours later he offered another option for $500. Also a European-style two-room apartment, good repairs, not far from the center. The next day we looked at the apartment, everything was fine. We scheduled the signing of the contract for the next day, and at that moment a not very pleasant hitch occurred.
Initially the conditions were as follows: I pay for entry only for the first and last month and that’s it.
In fact, when I gave the go-ahead, the owner asked for an additional $200 deposit. The amount is strange and is actually added to the deposit, which was previously called “last month”.
I asked the realtor if this was normal at all, and he replied that It is not customary to do this in Georgia. Usually you pay the first and last month, and that’s it. However, he said why this happened. People were renting out an apartment for the first time, and, according to him, it was obvious that they were nervous and also inexperienced.
But all the other good conditions were the deciding factor, so I agreed.
What was required in the end and why I am satisfied
These views are not far from the current apartment.
To rent an apartment, you just need to find local rental groups in the same Telegram and chat with a realtor. Since the landlord pays them, not you, communication is calmer and there is no feeling that they want to deceive you. Plus, the burden of compensating for his services is removed from you.
Prices are lower now than they were two years ago, so you shouldn’t immediately agree to options for $700-800 for a well-renovated apartment in Tbilisi. The exception is if you are considering prestigious areas like Vake.
Standard practice when signing a contract is to pay the first and last month. If you are asked for anything else, Necessarily ask the question why and for what. I had the text in Russian and Georgian languages.
The only document they asked for was a Russian passport.
After signing the contract, they explain how to pay for housing and communal services.
Unlike Turkey, here it is not necessary to register utility payments in your own name. But you need to have an account in a local bank to pay according to the details. The second option the landlord suggested was to transfer all housing and communal services together with the rent, less steamed option for me.
Utilities are about $80 per month, the biggest expenses are internet ($13), gas and electricity. The last two are about 50% cheaper in the summer.
In my case, the rent is accepted exclusively in dollars, the equivalent in lari did not work. I assume this is due to the fact that the recipient lives outside of Georgia, so not everyone here will have such a condition.
At the moment, this is the most successful rental experience, both in Russia and abroad.
Previously, there were constant problems: in Moscow, the landlord said after two years that he had under-calculated the amount for water, and I had to pay about 70,000 rubles of debt; in Turkey and Israel, I have already described the unscrupulous behavior of landlords. Before the congress, there were other strange moments in both of these countries related to the violation of personal space. I suggest that I was unlucky with specific people, since I heard about different, more positive experiences in both Istanbul and Tel Aviv.
There are absolutely no complaints about the current Tbilisi apartment related to the conditions, communications and payment.
I will make a full conclusion when we part ways after the contract ends, but at the moment there are no signs. In general, we’ll see!
Don’t Buy iPhone in Georgia. I’ve Been There and Seen What’s Happening to Apple in the Country
All photos in the article:
Source: www.iphones.ru
