The FINANCIAL — According to Richard Delaney, General Director of First Brokerage, the real estate sector is one of the fastest developing sectors of the Georgian economy and is attracting substantial attention from international investors.
“Today, approximately 72 registered real estate brokerage companies are represented on the market, but few of them are serious and competitive,” Delaney declared to The FINANCIAL.
“Real estate is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Georgian economy. Given its size, urban form and geopolitical position, we expect further development of the real estate market in Tbilisi. The appearance of many construction and development companies meets the high demand for residential and commercial space,” Paata Takvarelia, Director of realestate.ge declared.
According to realestate.ge, the price range of residential space is: in the centre of the city: USD 1,100-2,500, suburbs: USD 350-1,000, regions: USD 100-400. Price range of commercial estate is USD 5,000-12,000 in the centre of the city, in the suburbs: USD 2,000-4,000. Demand for commercial space in the regions practically does not exist and the cost is therefore not known to us. The price range of office space is: USD 1,500-4,500 in the centre of the city, USD 800-1,500 in the suburbs, and the cost of office space in the regions of Georgia is again not known to us.
“Today, Georgian developers offer a wide variety of newly-built apartments ranging from the so-called cheap apartments to luxurious multifunctional condominiums. Demand considerably exceeds existing supply and the real estate market offers development opportunities across virtually all sectors – offices, shopping-malls, retail warehousing and logistics,” Takvarelia claimed.
According to First Brokerage, the cost of commercial and office estate per sq.m in the centre of the city ranges from USD 4,000-10,000. The cost of residential estate per sq.m in the centre of the city is USD 1,500-3,000. The cost of commercial and office estate per sq.m in the various suburbs of the city ranges from USD 2,000-5,000. The cost of residential estate per sq.m in the various suburbs of the city is USD 600-1,800.
“I can name the top developers which showed the best sales indexes in 2007 and in the first half of 2008: Axis, Arsi, Iberia Group, Center Point, Texx Group, Rakeen, Magi style, Meridiani, Olympic Star, Kid Architecture, Irao Group, Realty Group, Libo, Tiplisi,” Delaney declared.
As Takvarelia noted, there are a lot of brokerage companies in Georgia. Their number has been increasing lately.
“The increase in demand on residential and commercial space has made the construction sector one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. However, associated real estate services are not growing correspondingly. The most prominent feature of the real estate broker market is a very large number of small agencies. But only five or six of them are serious,” Takvarelia added.
According to First Brokerage, the company is the only real estate agent in Tbilisi with strong local and international experience.
“We have a team comprising both expatriates and Georgian repatriates who have good knowledge of real estate markets outside of Georgia, but who also understand the idiosyncrasies of the local market. We understand the essential role a client plays in our success and are committed to placing our clients’ interests above all,” Delaney said.
In his words, the company’s goal is to achieve client satisfaction through our professional services, and through our team’s competent and caring attitude.
“We know that to be first, we need to listen to our clients first and treat them with honesty, loyalty and respect. Integrity, superior quality, and standards of excellence rank high in our company’s philosophy. Whatever we do, professionalism is at the center of it and the main key to our success,” Delaney added.
“Real Estate cooperates with all leading Georgian brokerage companies, in renting aspects as well as in selling. On the other hand they have the ability to use our advertising sources. makler.ge has its own advertising sources, weekly catalogue-newspaper realestestate.ge, which is spread with The FINANCIAL, has more than 5 hundred companies,” Takvarelia declared.
“Our company has the real estate portal www.makler.ge and www.realestate.ge. These are the first Georgian web servers, which provide their users with real estate information. These sites serve foreigners who are interested in investing in Georgia, as well as local residents,” Takvarelia added.
55% of our customers are foreigners, 45 % are native Georgians.
First Brokerage is well established in the local market and has a good knowledge of the local operators, developers and investors.
“The local and international professionals that work for First Brokerage give our company the advantage of good presence on both local and global markets. We have great access to and partner relationships with foreign investors all over the world. We have an extensive network in Europe, America, Russia and other post-soviet countries. As a matter of fact, the majority of our sales are to foreign clients. We, unlike anyone else, can market a property to international clients,” Delaney added.
The number of real estate customers in the first half of 2008 is twice increased compared to the previous year.
“It is not still possible to get special education on the brokerage field in Georgia, as such a school in not represented here. Georgian brokers have to refine their knowledge by their own experience. Sales persons and brokers are different with their specific characteristics, but both need licenses to work in this sphere. There still does not exist such licensees in Georgia,” Takvarelia said.
The number of First Brokerage customers is increased by 30% compared to the previous year. First Brokerage is a real estate brokerage and consulting company specializing in the selling, renting, buying and letting of residential as well as commercial properties. The company also offers property management and real estate consulting services.
“The company can offer a full package of services to the customers. The main difference between Georgian and foreign customers in acquiring apartments is price range. Foreign customers are oriented mostly on expensive apartments. Georgian customers require flats and houses near USD 80,000-200,000, while foreign customers require flats and houses near USD 200,000-400,000,” Delaney said.
“As a rule Georgian customers are looking for economic class real estate, the price range of which ranges from USD 60 thousand up to USD 120 thousand, while foreigners are eager to invest in real estate with prices ranging from USD 120 thousand and more. Mostly foreign customers require apartments for rent with Euro repairs and furniture. Today our company employs 16 persons: brokers, top brokers, consultants, real estate managers and programmers,” Takvarelia claimed.
According to First Brokerage, the company has the capacity to take on substantial mandates.
In Denaley’s words, First Brokerage is currently the largest real estate advisory group in Georgia with 10 full time employees and an active, knowledgeable and well connected shareholder base. As the stock exchange market is not so developed in Georgia there is no difference between a sales person and broker in our country, both help clients to achieve their goals. The company is comprised of some of the finest professionals who have extensive education and working experiences in real estate from Britain, U.S and other parts of the world. The Marketing Director was on the board of Directors of a real estate company in California, the U.S.
“The CEO and General Manager of First Brokerage held senior positions in London based property consultancies prior to taking over First Brokerage. Among many skills that we pride on, the First Brokerage team is fluent in Georgian, Russian, English, French and Yiddish. Intelligence is our greatest asset that makes our company unique among its competitors,” Delaney said.
Written by Natia Taktakishvili
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