Buying an apartment at the excavation stage in Batumi: the discount, the risks and the protection

1. Why it is cheaper at the excavation stage

The developer sells a future flat to finance the most expensive phases: land, design, excavation, the shell. In return it offers the maximum discount to the future price of the completed unit — on the Batumi market often 20–30%, and more on some projects. The further the construction, the smaller the discount: by the end of the shell the price usually approaches market.

On paper this looks like a high return on invested capital: reselling after handover with only 30–40% of the sum invested. But yield is computed across scenarios, not one optimistic case — as in our guide to NOI and IRR.

2. What you are actually buying

Until the building is commissioned, the flat as an object of title does not exist: the contract refers to a future unit in the project. You acquire a claim — the developer's obligation to hand over the object on completion. It is better protected if the contract is registered in the public registry, and weaker if it stays 'in the drawer' with the developer.

Hence the main risk of the stage: if the project stalls or the developer disappears, you become a creditor of the project, not the owner of a flat. Recovering what you paid will depend on the contract, the registration and the company's assets.

3. What to check before the first payment

Due diligence at the excavation stage is broader than on a finished unit: you are not inspecting a flat that does not exist yet, but the project and the company as a whole.

• The construction permit and whether the project matches the filing: floors, areas, parking.
• The developer's right to the plot: a registry extract on the land.
• The company: history, share capital, related projects and their fate.
• The contract: registration of the claim in the registry, payment stages, liability for late delivery, refund terms.
• Who accepts the building and how: technical supervision, the commissioning act.

4. Payment schemes at the excavation stage

The classic is installments tied to milestones: excavation, shell, roof, facade, handover. Every payment should match real progress, not the developer's calendar: paying for a 'shell' that does not exist is a direct way to fund someone else's problems.

Fix in the contract the right to suspend payments if construction stops and the procedure for refunding what is already paid.

5. When entering at the excavation stage makes sense

The early stage suits buyers whose holding horizon is two to three years or more, whose share of capital in the unit is not critical, whose developer has been vetted and whose contract gives real claim protection. It is a bet on a project, not a way to park money quickly.

It does not suit you if you need rental income immediately, if the family's main savings are invested, or if the discount to a neighbouring completed building is out of proportion to the risk.

6. Exiting the deal before handover

The exit is an assignment of the claim to a new buyer. It is almost always possible, but with the developer's consent, re-issuance of obligations and, as a rule, a fee. Liquidity at the excavation stage is lower than for a finished flat: a quick resale usually means a discount to the project's current price list. Factor this into your exit scenario in advance.

What the buyer representative does

GeoTrust at the excavation stage checks permits and land, the company and its past projects, registers the contract in the public registry, ties payments to construction milestones and periodically monitors the build until handover. The fee is reduced by any documented seller commission, so verification often costs the buyer nothing beyond what is already priced in.