Should I Sell the Apartment or Keep Renting It

This is the culmination of every question before it yield, demand, taxes, appreciation, and management all roll up into this one decision. There’s no universal answer, but there is a clear framework for reaching your own.

The case for holding and continuing to rent

• Yields remain genuinely strong. At roughly 8.5% gross (Galt & Taggart, 2025–2026), Tbilisi continues to outperform most comparable European capitals, where gross yields of 3–4% are typical.
• Capital appreciation is still forecast to continue, if modestly. TBC Capital projects around 3.2% property price growth for Tbilisi in 2026, and Galt & Taggart expects demand to remain broadly in line with 2025 a stable, if unspectacular, growth environment rather than a peaking market.
• The tax environment rewards holding. Property held longer than two years is fully exempt from capital gains tax on sale, meaning selling too early forfeits a meaningful tax advantage you’ve already been accumulating simply by owning.
• Macro fundamentals are solid. Strong GDP growth (7.5% in 2025), a stable sovereign credit outlook from both Fitch and S&P, and continued urbanization all support the broader investment case for Georgian real estate over a multi-year horizon.

The case for selling

• You need liquidity now, and the after-expense yield doesn’t justify the opportunity cost of capital tied up in a single asset.
• Your specific district or unit is genuinely underperforming persistent vacancy, a shrinking local tenant pool, or a building with rising maintenance costs that outpace rental income.
• You’re not equipped to manage from abroad and the cost of professional management, combined with the practical friction of remote ownership, is eating too deeply into your net return to make the hold worthwhile.
• You have a higher-return use for the capital sometimes the honest answer is that another opportunity, not the Tbilisi rental market itself, is the better place for your money right now.

A simple way to decide

Run the actual numbers rather than relying on instinct:

1. Calculate your realistic net annual yield after tax, management, and maintenance (see our companion articles on this).
2. Compare that to what you’d realistically earn by selling and redeploying the capital elsewhere factoring in transaction costs and, if applicable, the two-year capital gains exemption you’d be forfeiting by selling early.
3. Weigh the appreciation forecast for your specific district, not just the citywide average a unit in Saburtalo or Vake carries a different appreciation outlook than one in a slower-moving outer district.
4. Be honest about the management burden  if the property causes you genuine stress or requires more hands-on involvement than you’re willing to give, that’s a real cost even if it doesn’t show up in a spreadsheet.

The takeaway

If your net yield is healthy, your district has solid demand, and you can manage the property (directly or through a good agency) without excessive friction, the data currently favors holding  Tbilisi’s combination of strong yield, continued if moderate appreciation, and a favorable tax regime remains a genuinely attractive long-term case. But if any of those three legs is shaky for your specific property, selling isn’t a failure it’s simply matching the decision to your actual numbers rather than the market’s average story.

Data referenced: Galt & Taggart rental yield and price forecast data (2025–2026); TBC Capital 2026 market outlook; Georgian capital gains tax framework; Fitch/S&P sovereign rating actions.