Re: Renting / Buying - Real Estate agents, etc.

Re: Renting / Buying - Real Estate agents, etc. In general, renting in Israel is very different from renting in the US. The housing market here has never been set up for rentals in any organized way, so you won't find rental complexes here or rental offices where you drop off your monthly check and report a leaky faucet. Nearly all rentals are private. Sometimes the owner will use a commercial agent, but since this costs him a month's rent as a fee, many do it on their own. Some put ads in the local paper; some list on the internet (mostly Hebrew websites—www.yad2.co.il); some rent by word of mouth; some post ads at the bus stops and some put signs in the windows of the property. From what I have been told recently by 2 friends, one who was looking for a place and one who was looking for a tenant, properties were snapped up within 24 hrs of hitting the market. My friend who was looking for a tenant placed a sign in her window one night and the house was rented out by 08:30 the next a.m.

NOTE: THE RENTAL MARKET IN KARMIEL IS EXREMELY VOLATILE.  PRICES ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN THEY WERE WHEN I FIRST PUT THIS DOCUMENT TOGETHER IN THE SUMMER OF 2009.  TO FIND AN APARTMENT FOR LESS THAN NIS 2000 PLUS IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. 

 The following is thanks to Sharona Standhill, NBN

  Rentals, summer 2012

Older neighborhoods (Dromit, Center, Eshkolot, Maaravit)	Newer neighborhoods (Rabin, Makosh )
2000-2300 NIS	2500 – 2800 NIS	3 rooms
2200-2500 NIS	2800-3200 (if includes garden will be 3200-3500)	4 rooms
Maaravit – 2000-2300	In Makosh – 2000-2300	“Granny apartments”
Purchase
400,000 – 430,000 NIS	600,000 NIS and up	3 rooms
500,000 -520,000 NIS	750,000 NIS and up	4 rooms	Gardens, balconies etc add to the price
1,200,000 NIS and up	1,500,000 NIS and up	Duplex homes (5 rooms)
1,800,000 NIS and up	1,800,000 NIS and up	Private homes (5 rooms and up)

 

Take care,

Trying to rent in advance of arrival is, IMHO, virtually useless. You really gotta be here. And short term rentals are particularly difficult to find. Someone asked: "Would you kindly add to the below estimated budget of 1500 - 3000 NIS for a 3 bedroom apartment, an estimated range for all inclusive rental costs: rent, electricity, non electrical utilities, apartment house fees, telephone, internet, deposits, security system? items I have neglected to list?

The yad2.co.il website is very helpful for real estate searches.  If you cannot read Hebrew very well, try downloading Google Chrome, which contains an automatic translation option.  True, it does make a pretty bad mashup of street names in translation, but you might be able at least to get an idea of costs in the neighborhood you find interesting.  Of course, if you can navigate in Hebrew, the website can be invaluable for information gathering purposes.

Are apartments furnished?  unfurnished? "Are a stove and refrigerator included in unfurnished apartments?" Not usually.

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As I think has been mentioned before, quoted rental prices here include only the cost of the house/apartment.  In addition to the quoted price, the tenant is expected to pay 'arnona' or municipal tax (based on square meterage and neighborhood) and all utilities, including water and sewage.  The arnona on the 87 meter place I live in is nis 3245 for 2009 without water & sewage (including sr. citizen discount of 30%). Bills are sent out bi-monthly. There are significant discounts for new Karmiel olim.

My two month electric bill for April-May 2009 came to about nis 800. The December-January 2011 bill (heavy use for heating) was nis 941. This is for one (working) person in a 4 room party-wall house, some use of air conditioning during that time. I'm pretty profligate with my heating & cooling, so I generally get two enormous electric bills a year, the rest of the time the bi-monthly bills run around 700 nis. If you have a family, do lots of cooking and laundry, etc., can't stand the cold or the heat, your bills will be higher. My gas bill is negligible. I have gas cylinders outside the house. Newer or multi-story buildings also have gas cylinders outside, but the individual flat usage is metered.   My water/sewage bill for May-June 2010 came to less than nis 70.  Since the imposition of new water rates designed to discourage wastage, rates have gone very high and are predicated on the number of persons living at one address. 

The tenant may be asked to provide the Israeli equivalent of a security deposit which is usually in the form of a post-dated check at an agreed upon amount and which is made official by the purchase of certain tax stamps which are bought at the post office.  Your real estate agent or lawyer will explain this.  DO NOT ATTEMPT A RENTAL WITHOUT A LOCAL LAWYER OR AN AGENT YOU ARE SURE YOU CAN TRUST.  If you need a referral, let me know off line.  Lawyers here work for both parties and most rental contracts are standard but, like all contracts, can be modified if both parties agree.

If you do find a suitable place and have worked out all the legal kinks, be sure to take photographs of the interior and exterior of the property to document the condition of the place before taking possession.  A videotaped tour of the flat is best.  It's best to do this in the company of the landlord or rental agent.

Occasionally, a landlord will allow the tenant to pay the utility bills and keep them in his (the landlord's) name.  As a landlord, I do not.  I accompany my tenant to the electric company, gas company and to the local tax office and have all utilities transferred to the name and bank account of the tenant.  (I've had a pretty nasty experience with a deadbeat tenant.) This can be problematic  for the tenant as well.  For example, if your landlord defaults on his telephone bill at his new address, the phone company has the right to turn off all phones listed under his name. If you are renting an apartment and paying the phone bill under the name of someone who is in arrears elsewhere, you could find yourself without service. An additional cost is 'va'ad beit,' or the Israeli equivalent to condominium fees. A multi-storey building with an elevator is going to charge more per month for fees than a 3 story walk-up. Not every multi-tenant building has a va'ad beit, but most do.

Security systems? I have decorative utilitarian iron gates or grates on all doors and windows.  I recently installed a professional security system, mostly because I travel for 2-3 months each year.  The best security system in the world is a good neighbor.

Once in a while a flat is rented furnished or partly furnished, but this is not the usual, and in such cases, generally the landlord will want the apartment back at the end of the year's lease.  The American norm of providing a stove and refrigerator is not the norm here, although it does happen.  Indeed, when I made aliyah, the tenant often also supplied his own light fixtures and his own telephone line.  Today the lines are in place, but, of course, if you want a land line, you have to go to the phone company and set one up.  The landlord may find it convenient to maintain a cable connection (you can't receive TV here without cable or satellite--an antenna won't do it. OTOH, I am not up to date with streaming videos, etc.) and add the cost to the rental.   Do not assume your apt. will be air conditioned or heated.  If an AC is in place, make sure it works before you sign anything.

Note:  All rentals are plus utilities and arnona (municipal residency taxes), as usual.  When 'rooms' are quoted, the reference is to bedrooms plus salon (living room). Dining areas, kitchen, etc. are not counted, thus, a 3.5 room apartment has 2.5 bedrooms and a living room.  A room has to have walls and a door to be counted.

If you can navigate a Hebrew site though, you might want to try www.yad2.co.il.  A lot of people try to go around the agents, to save costs, and they will post to this site. Reminder: Rentals move like lightning. You may face a situation of renting an apartment you have never seen for yourself.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about renting a place in Karmiel.  "An American oleh went to see a flat that was immediately available and liked it," I told her.  "The prospective landlord said 'great--let's go sign a contract at the lawyer's office.'  Unaccustomed to moving that fast and loath to sign a lease on the first apartment he had seen, the oleh said, "Can I have 24 hrs?" and offered a nis 500 deposit for good faith.  "Sure," replied the landlord.  First thing the next morning the new oleh called the landlord to say he'd take the apartment.  "Sorry, it's gone," said the owner.  "But I gave you a deposit of nis 500 and you promised to hold it for me for 24 hrs," said the oleh.  "And I will give you back your money," said the landlord...

How do I explain to a new oleh," I asked, 'that this is not an unusual experience here and has nothing to do with dishonor, disrespect or dishonesty.  The landlord took the money in good faith and was willing to return it, but someone else came along and was ready to sign.  Why should he wait for the eventual return of someone he doesn't know and lose a bird in the hand?  Or that the seller of a property has been offered a higher price that the one you had agreed to, so he has decided to sell the house to the higher bidder?

This is what is known as a 'lama-cacha' kind of question. Lama--why?  Cacha--thusly or because, .and describes a significant difference in cultural perceptions and values. 

Anyhow, after a number of years and similar experiences, I have developed a much thicker skin and a few guidelines for life in Israel.