Who Looks After Your Apartment When You Are Not There?

Property management in Georgia typically costs 10-20% of rental income for long-term letting and 20-25% for short-term, where cleaning, laundry and guest communication are included. For an owner living abroad this is not an optional extra — it is the line that turns a brochure yield into an actual one. Registration and banking can largely be handled remotely or by power of attorney, but nobody can let a guest in from another country.

What does a manager actually do?

The services split roughly by letting type:

What does a manager actually do?

	Long-term letting	Short-term letting
Typical fee	10-20% of rent	20-25% of income
Finding tenants	Advertising, viewings, screening	Listing and pricing on Airbnb, Booking and similar
Contracts	Drafting, signing, deposit handling	Platform terms, house rules
Money	Rent collection, chasing arrears	Platform payouts, remittance to you
Day to day	Repairs, bills, tenant contact	Check-in, cleaning, laundry, restocking, reviews
Effort	Low, a few events a year	High, continuous

The fee gap between the two is not a mark-up. Short-term management is a different job with staff and turnover attached.

The clause worth insisting on

Commission on income actually received, not a fixed monthly retainer. A percentage of rent aligns the manager with you: an empty month costs them too. A flat monthly fee means you keep paying through a vacancy that they have no particular incentive to end.

If a company insists on a fixed fee, ask what happens in a month with no tenant. The answer tells you what kind of arrangement you are entering.

Kavlian's vetted agencies work with foreign owners and can explain their fee structure in your language before you commit. Asking costs nothing.

What else should be in the agreement?

• What the fee includes and excludes. Is the cleaning between tenancies inside the fee or billed separately?
• The repair authority limit — the amount they may spend without asking you. Set it high enough to fix a boiler and low enough that you hear about a renovation.
• How and when you are paid, in which currency, and how the exchange rate is set.
• Reporting. A monthly statement showing income, costs and occupancy. Insist on it in writing; verbal updates disappear.
• How to leave. Notice period, and whether the tenant relationship stays with the property or with the agency.
• Who holds the keys and the deposit, and what happens if the company ceases trading.

How much does this change your yield?

A worked example on a long let: rent of USD 600 a month is USD 7,200 a year gross. Take 15% management (USD 1,080), the 5% rental income tax, twelve months of building fee, and one vacant month, and the number you actually bank is materially below the headline. On short lets the gap is wider still, because 20-25% comes off gross bookings before cleaning and platform fees are even counted.

None of this is an argument against letting your property. It is an argument for comparing net figures — and for treating any projection that omits management as incomplete rather than optimistic. Our guide to the real cost of owning covers the rest of the annual budget.

Can you self-manage from abroad?

Some owners do, with a trusted local contact for keys and emergencies. It works best for long lets with a stable tenant and much less well for short lets, where somebody has to be physically available at unpredictable hours. Be honest about which one you are actually signing up for.

Fee levels and service scope vary by company and city. Compare at least two or three offers and ask each for an owner reference.

FAQ

Do I need to be in Georgia to set this up?

Not necessarily. Much can be arranged remotely or through a power of attorney, though meeting the people who will hold your keys is worth a trip.

Who pays the utility bills?

Usually the manager pays from collected rent and reports it. Confirm that bills are settled monthly rather than accumulating.

Is management commission tax deductible?

Ask a Georgian tax advisor. The flat 5% regime for individual residential landlords is simple precisely because it does not work like a deductions system.

What happens if I want to sell?

A property with a sitting long-term tenant sells differently from an empty one. Raise it with the agency before signing a long lease if a sale is a possibility.

Find a manager before you need one

Kavlian's vetted agencies handle letting and management for foreign owners across Tbilisi and Batumi. Talk to a specialist for free or browse listings.