The Next Phase

Aabed came on Friday and looked at the place.

1. It needs Spackle and paint
2. Some of the floor tiles upstairs are loose
3. The central AC unit was missing a piece that broke

Originally, we told him just to do the areas that were in need of the most work and we would deal with the rest once our finances were a little more stable.  However, after consulting with a few people, we decided to turn him loose on the place and fix whatever needs it and paint the whole house.  Let's face it - it's empty right now, so much easier and faster.

Avner came over yesterday and looked at the AC and within a few hours had located the missing part.  Yay!!

I transferred the water and arnona bills to our name and today will transfer electricity.

The gas balloons are being delivered today and tomorrow is moving day/internet and phone/oven delivery day

Aabed is continuing his painting - they got the entire first floor and part of the second floor done yesterday so I'm hopeful.

Payment Sent!!

S went to the bank today and sent in the last payment.  Aabed will be coming with me tomorrow to look at what I need him to paint, Avner will come and see what the story is with the central AC (something's broken) and we'll get the ball rolling on moving!!


Yaaayyyy!!!

The "Blessing" of social media

Two weeks ago the sellers asked their lawyer, R, for the remainder of the paperwork - meaning the two things I mentioned in the last post.  They finally got one of the papers from her at 10:30 at night on Monday.  The Bitul Mishkun was still MIA.  R said that it would be picked up by a messenger yesterday.  Today came and still no paper.  The sellers were keeping on top of her, but she wasn't answering phones or e-mails.  Eventually, I called my lawyer who suggested first that we try and get the form ourselves online.  I wound up paying 50 NIS to get a form that didn't tell me what I needed anyway.  Then, he suggested that S who works around the area where the office is anyway go in there and get the paper himself.  I called the seller with this info and she agreed.  5 minutes later she calls me back and tells me that R now has the Bitul on her computer and will forward it along and to stop S from leaving his office.

Cool.

An hour after that, I still don't have the file.  The seller tells me that R is having trouble opening it on her computer? so she hasn't sent it yet and that it might be a good idea if S tries to get it himself from the office.  I send S out and 10 minutes after that the seller calls me again to tell me that she's sending me the file.  I stopped S about halfway there and sent him back to work and forwarded the file on to the e-mail address the bank had provided.

I then called the bank to let them know the files had been sent, but no answer.  I called the main Mizrahi line - in Jerusalem - and they couldn't help me.  One of the phone people sent an e-mail to the banker I was trying to reach, but I had no way of knowing if they were even in the office.  I checked the hours, and the branch I was dealing with was open until 3.  After about an hour and a half of this - which put it at 1:30, I turned S loose on them.  He used to work in phone support for FedEx Israel so he knows the system and is the last person you want calling.  He raked the phone people over the coals to the point that they sent an e-mail out to every single banker in the branch telling them that we needed to reach them.  He also gave S the direct line for the branch which we called, but no answer.

At 3PM I finally get a call from the head of the branch asking if we were trying to reach her.  I told her that I had sent in the information several hours ago. She then told me that their entire e-mail server was down, so I would have to fax the information ASAP so that it would get to the right people in time.  S jumped through three hoops in order to find a working fax - the office that his office rents space from has one, apparently - and sent the files.  Oh - and the bank manager told me that she would let me know when she got the files because faxes aren't the most reliable things out there.

4:00 - still haven't heard anything.   I tried calling the two numbers I had for the branch and neither one answered.   I went on the Mizrahi Facebook page and posted that because no one was answering the phone I wouldn't be able to get the keys to my house.   Within 8 minutes I got a response back asking me to e-mail in my details and the whole story.  I e-mailed it to the address provided and within 3 minutes got a call back - from the banker I had been dealing with.
She starts yelling at me that I don't have to complain like this and they are busy.  I merely pointed out to her that if someone had answered the phone the first time I called at 12 or any time in the three hours after that, this wouldn't have happened.  I explained to her that I understand it's not entirely their fault and I reminded her that I had called previously to ask what to do because the lawyer was dragging her heals.

Anyway, she said she'd get the paperwork started and gave me a direct line to reach her.

I'll call her in a few hours to find out what the story is.

In other news, the sellers move out today!!

Bank and Lawyer Woes

After being on hold and being sent through the mother of all phone trees, I finally got someone to tell me what I needed to know at Mizrahi..  The  main problem is that EVERYONE goes on vacation during August because there is no such thing as summer camp in August in Israel.

Anyway, Vered was very helpful, but told me that I would have to continue my efforts with Shlomi because she's going on vacation tomorrow.

According to the bank we were missing three pieces of paper::

• A letter from the municipality saying that there are no outstanding tax debts on the property
• A letter from the chevra meshakenet - housing corporation that was up to date- ie since the last payment because there was some mortgage shuffling on the part of the sellers
• A letter of bitul mishkun - basically canceling their right to live there

Here's an explanation of a chevra meshakenet  I found online

http://www.jacksonadvocates.net/what-on-earth-is-a-housing-corporation-chevra-meshakenet/

What on Earth is a Housing Corporation (Chevra Meshakenet)?! 

Housing Corporation

A chevra meshakanet (a “housing corporation” or “settlement company”) is a large public building company that exists in Israel, which has constructed large numbers of dwelling units and temporarily registered them in an quasi (mini) land registry. This legal arrangement is prevalent in newly constructed or about to be constructed residential buildings. For example, an apartment may have been purchased “on paper” from a building contractor (kablan) or entrepreneur (yazam). In such a case, the builder will normally have obtained the rights to construct the apartment building from the Israel Land Administration (Minhal Me’karkei Yisrael or Minhal). Following the construction, the builder will need to register the building as a cooperative house or condominium building (bayit meshutaf), whereby each apartment will be registered, with its own sub-parcel (Tat Chelka) number, in the Land Registry (Lishkat Rishum Me’karkein or Tabu) as a long-term lease. When purchasing an apartment registered at a Chevra Meshakenet, in the interim period between winning the tender and registering each condominium owner’s rights in the Land Registry, it is important to insist that the seller’s attorney provide you with a Certificate of Rights (Ishur Zechuyot) from the builder/entrepreneur. An Ishur Zechuyot from the Israel Land Administration will need to be obtained in most cases too. The rights of the builder/entrepreneur and the nature of the building to be constructed will all need to be thoroughly examined before purchasing an apartment in this framework. Selling an apartment of this nature during this intermediate period also requires substantial documentation and verification of the rights involved particularly when mortgages are taken. - See more at: http://www.jacksonadvocates.net/what-on-earth-is-a-housing-corporation-chevra-meshakenet/#sthash.eAprKtrF.dpuf

Anyway, the seller was at work today, so she called the Ariel municipal offices - the benefits of living in a small town - and told them I was on my way down to collect the first letter.  Easy and done.  As for the other two, her lawyer should get them to her tonight and/or tomorrow morning after which I will send them to Mizrahi and stalk them until they do what I want.

Technical Stuff

Appliances have been bought.  Ceiling and wall mounted fans have been bought.  Now working on finding a gas company and supplier that we like.  We will be using balloons (gas tanks hooked up to the house), so we need to purchase two of them.  Also, by law the only people who can install our stove are licensed technicians, so we're hunting for one of those too.

Found a gas guy, going to make an appointment tomorrow for him to come and install things.

Came across this English Guide to Buying a House in Israel online

http://www.umtbprivatebanking.com/how-to-buy-a-home-in-israel-your-a-z-guide/?utm_campaign=Facebook+Ads+-+Brazil+Only&utm_medium=Social+Media&utm_source=ppc&


It's put out by Mizrahi - the people we used for a mortgage.

The current plan is to transfer the last bit of money this Thursday, that is if people will answer their phones and let me do so.

Updates - in the home stretch!!

It's been a while, but here's what we're up to:

1. Furniture purchased
1. Couches, dining room table and chairs and coffee tables were purchased together at a great deal - 15,000 for the lot.  The table is beautiful, solid wood and expands to 9.5 feet.  Couches are super comfy.
2. Beds - we bought a new bed for ourselves that's designed to either stay together or split down the middle and new wider mattresses as well as a trundle frame for our current mattresses for the guest room and two night tables
3. Walk-in closet - had it designed by a guy in Jerusalem - will take pictures when it's installed
2. Sorted out question about house expansion
1. The seller - who happens to be a contractor himself showed me on the plan where it says we can expand - the secretary didn't know what she was talking about
3. Have now paid for 90% of the house and are waiting on the last bit until receipt of keys
1. But, thanks to a smart banker we don't have to start on the mortgage until August.  Thanks to a glitch by our landlord last year when she deposited 2 months rent instead of one, that means that we don't get stuck with double rent.
4. Have move-in date
1. We're aiming for Aug 25th - a Sunday. The sellers are planning on being out by Shabbat.
5. Spoke with Aabed about painting and he's arranging it
6. Paid LAST rent check.

Here's what we still need to do:

1. Purchase appliances
2. Arrange movers
3. Get a piece of paper from the other lawyer for the bank
4. Transfer the final payment
5. Transfer the Arnona, water and electric bills
6. Go to Ikea for a few things
7. Finish packing
8. MOVE
9. Finish up with the current apartment
10. Plan for Rosh Hashanna.  Hahahahahahaha

In other news, I'm planning to go back to school this fall for my teaching certification, so got even more on the plate.

Almost, almost done with mortgage

Called a couple of insurance brokers and was able to get from the bank's offer of 160 NIS a month for mortgage insurance down to 110 a month.  Also, found an English speaking broker, so I'm going to have him insure the contents and do life insurance (not tied to the bank) after we move.

Got a call from the Shammai yesterday.  He sent in his paperwork.

Opened up an account with Mizrahi Tefahot.

Sent in Michtav Kavvanot.

All that's left is to pay the fee for opening the mortgage file (about 850 NIS after the 50% discount) and then I can collect the money!!

I spoke with a friend who works for the city, and I may be able to get the oleh discount on Arnona (municipal taxes) once we move.  I've been here for a while, but I never used it, so he's going to try and help me with it.

The last time I was at the house, I asked the sellers about the ishurim for the expansion that the city had claimed they didn't have.  They showed it to me on  the plans the city had copied for me - the secretary I had spoken with didn't know what she was talking about.

It's all coming together!!

My lawyer took care of most of the stuff on the list.  The Shammai is coming on Monday.  I'm still waiting on the michtav kavvanot and I need to copy a bunch of papers for the shammai.

Last week, I went to the Engineer's office to copy the house plans.  The woman mentioned to me that if I want to expand on the house, I should come back and we'll discuss my options.  I told her that I was told by the sellers that they already had the permits and plans to expand the side of the house, and she didn't know what I was talking about.

I'll see the sellers on Monday during the shammai visit and I'll ask them for copies of the plans so that I can take them back to the Engineer's office.  I doubt they are lying - they don't have a reason to at this point, but there might be some crossed wires with the engineers.

More paperwork

The bank gave us a mountain of paperwork to get signed.  Some of it by the seller, some of it by the lawyers and a few other things.  Below is the complete list

1. Life insurance (on the house)
2. House insurance (also with the bank as the beneficiary)
3. Bank information for the sellers - where they want us to send the money we get from the bank
4. Michtav kavvanot - still not sure what that is but the sellers had to do it.
5. More stuff for  the sellers
6. Power of attorney notarized
7. Stuff for the sellers
8. Appraisal of the value of the house
9. Property registry.  If we lived in pre-67 Israel, this would be done through the Tabu.  Since we don't, we use the Minhal Ezrachi, or Civil Administration, aka the army.
10. Paperwork for the tax people
11. Receipt for the down payment
12. Payment for opening a mortgage file.

The lawyer took care of most of this stuff for me.  I'm in charge of the insurances, the appraisal and no. 12.

Insurances - I asked around and it seems like the banks offer the best deals for that type of insurance, as opposed to going private.  Haven't signed anything yet, but making progress.

Appraisal - just got off the phone with the guy.  The bank gave me a list of three people to choose from.  I chose the one who lived the closest.

The appraiser gave me a list of things I have to chase down and xerox before he can come and look at the house.  Things like the initial building permit from 1985, the building plans, etc.

Mizrahi success

We schlepped out to Mizrahi in Airport city this morning to see our English speaking representative and see what they would offer us.

Just a note - in the meantime, after speaking with the parents, it was decided that we're best off getting an adjustable (every 5 years) mortgage with very low monthly payments so that we can start saving up and pay back the whole megillah early.

Here is a summary of the offers we have received

Bank	Prime amount	Prime interest	ARM amount	ARM interest	Fixed amounts	Other interest	Bonuses
Poalim	228,000	2.10	393,800	2.14	71,200	2.35	30% off cost of opening up mortgage file
Otzar Hachayal	231,000	2.10	462,000	1.95
Mizrahi (second time)	230,000	1.99	463,000	1.79			50% off opening up mortgage file (if we open an account)

Also, Mizrahi approved us in 5 minutes - while we were sitting there!!
We signed something like 100 pages and were given a shopping list of things we need to get done before we collect the money.

Most of them are done by our lawyer, who will be getting a call from me later today.  I do have to call an assessor to come and assess the value of the house for the bank and get a few things notarized.

Approvals and more estimates

I went to OTzar Hachayal, and handed them the paperwork I had from Poalim, stressing that I had not received approval yet.
The woman there was very helpful and even saw me 15 minutes before my meeting time.  She saw what I had been offered and reduced the interest rates even more.

A few days later I got approval from Poalim.  Otzar Hachayal however wasn't so happy with a single income household, so they didn't deny me but they didn't approve me either.


I made an appointment with Mizrahi to see what they would offer me.

Finally got an estimate

I got a call back from Poalim on erev chag saying that the teudat zakaut had finally come in.  After several failed phone calls, because they don't answer their phones, made an appointment to get an estimate and actually apply for a mortgage.

I arrived on time, and still had to sit there with a squirmy 10 month old while the banker puttered around.

The estimate she gave me was amazing. She said we get better rates because we have an account with Poalim, and the rates she gave me were much lower than Mizrahi had cited.  She also realized that we're still missing a crucial piece of paper, an ishur zechuyot, so we called my lawyer who called the seller's lawyer, who called the company - in short, we're stalled until we get that piece of paper.

In the meantime, I went into Otzar Hachayal to see if we opened an account there if that meant better mortgage rates.  They told me it is illegal to do quid pro quo, but that we could get good rates anyway.  Interesting.

I have an appointment for an estimate with Otzar Hachhayal for Thursday. We'll see what rates they offer me.

Bank Hapoalim, take two

We got the assorted paperwork together and I went back to HaPoalim today in PT to get the Teudat Zakaut.

She then asked me for my marriage license, not one of the things she had listed last week.  Fortunately, S was home so he scanned and e-mailed in our Israeli marriage ishur - since we got married in the US.

We were going through the paperwork, and at some point she asked me if I had received any "social assistance".  I asked her what she meant and she said help with rent, etc.  I told her I had received an absorption package from Misrad Haklita when I made Aliyah.
She turned to a coworker to ask if this was considered social assistance.

I then asked her - and she confirmed - I was the first Olah she had dealt with for a mortgage.  Ever.  Petach Tikva is a very large city in the middle of the country.  Go figure.

She then looked at the ishur that S had sent over - and didn't understand what it was.  I explained to her that that was what you get when you get married overseas.

She sent in the paperwork.

I'm half expecting to get a panicked call next week saying that they need my fingerprints or something, but we'll see.

Bank Hapoalim

Last week, I went up to the Poalim branch in Ariel to get an estimate on a mortgage.  They told me they can't do it here, so I gave them all my information and they made me an appointment for the branch in Petach Tikva at 6:15 pm tonight.

I arrived a little early and went upstairs to the mortgage area to wait.  There was another guy waiting who said that he had been waiting for the better part of an hour so far.  Eventually, the adviser asked us what we were doing there.  When we told her we had an appointment, she didn't believe it.  I handed her the paper printout from my branch and she still didn't believe it.  After getting the name of the manager and the branch number from me she called him and started yelling at him for making us an appointment so late.  Apparently these appointments take at least an hour, so they need to be done earlier in the day.

She finished with the people she was working on, took care of the guy before us and then came our turn.

Problems:
1) The paperwork on the mortgage was not up to date - the seller's lawyer had not given my lawyer up to date forms.
2) We were missing something called a Teudat Zakaut, which lists the different reasons we should get a better rate on a mortgage - things like being olim, having a child, living in Ariel, S's army service and apparently ID information on S's sister who lives in Modiin.

Good things:
1) The adviser actually seemed to know what she was talking about.
2) Since I have an account with Poalim, I am entitled to certain perks, like better rates, an interest free loan and the like.

In short, my branch of Poalim screwed up again, but the bank as a whole is not out of the running yet.

I also started looking at furniture and appliances.  More on that later.

Next up - mortgages, paperwork and running around

Starting next week, I will be mortgage hunting.  I have 2 banks in Ariel to talk to, Leumi, Beinleumi, Mizrahi Tefachot (gave me initial approval) and Discount.

Then comes all the paperwork stuff - transfer of ownership paperwork, etc.  I was told that the bank would send me on a scavenger hunt once they approve me for a mortgage.  Weeee.


Oh, and I get to go furniture shopping.  Did some research and found out that there are sales during the 3 weeks.  As long as we steer clear of the 9 days we should be fine.

I hate lawyers.

While we were paying the sellers, we also payed the lawyer and the realtor.
G e-mailed me to say that the realtor's check had bounced.  Not because of funds, but because the signature didn't match. S hasn't changed his signature in years.  She called the bank and they told her they'd override it.  Realtor goes to cash check again, and it bounces again.  Each time this happens, they take 20 NIS from each side.  Apparently G had to be on the phone at the same time that E was trying to cash the check. 
Next week I will be going in there to get my money back or changing accounts.

A week later I get an e-mail from my lawyer, apparently their lawyer is looking to collect late fees because we took so long getting them the initial payment.  Considering my lawyer told us that a verbal agreement for 2 weeks and a post dated check for one week was fine, not so happy with him right now.
In the end, we made an agreement - this time on paper - that if we paid the next payment early, they'd drop the other thing.

Which brings us to today.

My dad sent over the next batch a few days ago, so it would arrive either yesterday or today.  It arrived today.  The seller called me this morning - since we're going into Yom Haatzmaut territory, their bank is closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so they need the money today to cover something.  Fine with me.  I went online to transfer it, and it said I didn't have the right permissions.

I called up Poalim (my branch).  They insisted that I come in to sign.  I argued that my MIL had been able to do this over the phone with the other manager, and the manager today said that she didn't know about that arrangement - it's like we're dealing with the mob.  We have to make arrangements with specific people?  I don't think so.  I'll be going in there to sort out the bounced check issue next week.  I have 2 things to hold over their heads.  First, my account.  I am happy to move somewhere else.  Also, I am about to go mortgage shopping and will threaten to exclude them from consideration.  Lastly, I brought a bunch of anglos with me to that bank and they have that on record.  I can also threaten to blacklist them with future olim.

S went up to the bank to do the transfer.   They tried to explain that it was a security thing that we had to keep coming in, but didn't have an answer as to why some managers let you do it over the phone and some won't.

On a good note, spoke with sellers today - I am going to go and measure their house one afternoon or evening so I can start furniture shopping.

Signing, banks, aaaaahhhhhh

Sorry it's been a while - we were away.
We signed on the house a month ago, but since the money still hadn't come in from the US, we made an arrangement with them to get them the 15% due with signing within 2 weeks.

We flew to America 6 hours later.

First of all, I cannot thank my MIL, G, enough for her help with this.  We gave her temporary power of attorney while we were away so that she could deal with stuff if anything came up.

The initial transfer.

As soon as I knew that we were going to be signing, I called my bank manager (father) in the US and requested that the send over 10% of the cost.  I went to my bank and got the wiring information and sent it onto him.  Unfortunately, I was so tired when I sent it that I mistyped the Swift Code and he realized that it didn't have enough digits.  He then looked it up online to send the money.
2 days later, money isn't in my account and Vanguard, where it was supposed to be coming from, doesn't know where it is.  The day we signed I went up to the bank and set it up so that I would be able to transfer money online once it came in.  I also explained to them what had happened with the wire, and as it turns out, my dad sent it to Great Britian.
I called him with the correct swift code and he called Vanguard who said they could redirect it.
He also wired over the other 5%.

2 more days pass, no money.

4 more days.
A week after the signing, the sellers are getting anxious and G gets a call from my lawyer wanting to know where the money is.
Father called Vanguard and asked them for a record of the transfer and they don't have one.
A day later they "found" it, but there is no record of my dad redirecting the money.
After several long and loud conversations, the money is apparently on its way back to the US.  Great.  He tells them to send the money to another bank Wells Fargo who will to the transfer. (Grandfather had a guy he worked with for years who is very responsible.)
In the meantime, Vanguard issued us a new account manager.  We'll see who we get.
It seems like Wells Fargo has a 3 step process to international transfers, so they take a while to get started.

By this point, it's erev chag.  I accessed my account and saw that the money that vangard had said they were sending back (the 10%) was sitting in my Israeli account.  I called G and found out that the 15% that had been sent over with WF was also sitting there.
G called the bank, transferred the money, all good, right?

Engineer's Report

The engineer came about 90 minutes before he was supposed to, so I completely missed going into the house with him.  Also, he woke up the chemo ridden owner.

His biggest thing was the lack of banisters.  Since the house is 4 subfloors, we'll decide if we want to put them in.  right now, the stairs are between walls so they're narrow already.

He also found a drip in the wall behind the tiles in the bathroom.  On the other hand, when we checked their water meter which is super sensitive - even to leaky faucets - it wasn't moving.

Their neighbors recently found a leak in the wall (same wall is shared) so it's possible he was picking up that leak. His moisture meter said it was a teensy one so we're not worrying about it for now.

Moving right along

Here's where we're holding:
We are planning to sign by Monday (since we leave Tuesday morning).  S called an organization of building engineers and got an estimate of about 2000 NIS to come and check out the house.  He will be doing it on Sunday and e-mailing us the results immediately.  He will then mail them on Monday so we have official record.
S talked to E about the fact that we're going to be away for a month so we won't be able to start mortgage hunting until after we get back, and E said it won't be a problem.
Debating using a broker or talking to the banks myself.  The broker costs and extra 1% of the price of the house, but might get us better deals.

Got a House!!

E called back.  They are willing to sell for 1.26.  Called lawyer - who is S's aunt's brother in law - in short, family - to start process.  We're leaving for the US in 3 business days, so we'll see how far we get before that.

They will probably vacate at the end of August.  Since Rosh Hashanna is Sept 4, this will be interesting.  Very possible that we will cook all the food here and freeze it before we move.  I will also eventually ask the sellers if I can come by one evening with measuring tape so I can go furniture shopping.

Decisons, Decisions

B called back and told us that the owner is being stubborn and wants 1.15.  At the same time, E called and said that they are willing to leave the house in January and pay 1.25.

S and I sat down and started to compare the houses.  Here's what we came up with

Pros of New House
Redone (plumbing and all) - can move in as is
close to clinic
close to schools
close to friends
more spread out - won't grow out of it
covered in porch
at the end of the greenbelt which was budgeted to be extended and the new mayor wants to show his clout before the public election next year

Pros of Old House
huge kitchen
big yard
guest bathroom on ground floor
can design to my specs
close to synagogue
closer to shopping
playground just down the alley
further from cars
nicer view

We recrunched our numbers and decided that 1.26 is manageable for that house.  We won't get the other one for less than 1.135 and it'll cost us more than the difference to fix up the old place.  Waiting to see if they bite 1.26

New Offer

B called 2 roofers and had them come and give an estimate on what it would cost to scrape and re-tar the roof.  He was told 10,000 NIS with 7 years guarantee and 7,000 NIS with 5 years guarantee.  He asked me what I want to pay for the house, and I said that given the amount of renovations I would be doing, as close to 1.1 million as possible.  He said he'll talk to the seller and get back to me.

Good Things Come to One Who Waits

Saw some more houses today with B, the last realtor.  He showed me one house for 1.3 a little farther from everything than I wanted. It was beautiful, on a super quiet residents only, parking lot-style street, but it didn't speak to me.
The next house was between the mercaz and shul.  It's one of the original houses built in Ariel, so about 30 years old.  Hasn't been fixed up, but the kitchen area is HUGE!!!.  It has 2 yards, 4 bedrooms and a large-ish downstairs area.  They want 1.15, but B is sure it'll cost us 1.1.  I did see some water damage upstairs, so going to have a roofer give me an estimate on fixing it up.
It's been vacant for a while, so we could basically buy it immediately and start fixing it up.
Upsides - I get to design my own kitchen, yard, proximity to shopping and shul, price, option to expand out 2 extra rooms upstairs, guest bathroom on main floor, a well built house. 
Downsides - a little smaller than the other places we saw, distance from Rova Bet, needs work, 30 year old house

Oh, and did some preliminary searching - for what we're saving by getting this house - about 150,000 NIS - I can almost turn it into my dream house.  Kitchen, downstairs floors, AC in rooms and more.

Going to ask B for number of roofer today and get the ball rolling.

Oh, and heard back from E - they're not dropping below 1.27. Another house on their block just sold for 1.35.

The Negotiations Continue...and we look some more

Got a call back from E - sellers want to go down to 1.27.  However, I've done the math several times and as a paamonim advisor, http://www.paamonim.org/englishmain.php I cannot advise myself to go that high.  The monthly payments will be more than we can safely pay every month.
I explained to E that we simply cannot go above 1.25 and even that's stretching it.  In the meantime, I called every other realtor in Ariel.  Here are the results.

The first one said she didn't have anything.  The next one was very nice but didn't have anything near the shul and the third one tried to show us something we had already looked at.  The fourth one has 2 houses that I don't think we've seen yet.  One is on Hashikma and one is across from the electric company.  Both are in pretty good locations.  Meeting with him on Monday to look around.

We also checked out a house on HaHagana on our own, but felt boxed in.  It was a nice house, but small.  It was suggested by the Rabbi. who had also looked at it, but as I realized, he's a foot shorter than we are, so has more room to move.
Over Shabbat I was given some advice from a mentor - an Israeli mom here in Ariel, A.  A used E, the realtor 18 years ago and worships the ground he walks on.  She told me to trust him, he'll get the job done.

We shall see.  Will post report on houses I see in 2 days.

First Offer

So, I don't know how these meetings are supposed to go, but this one was not an immediate success.

It turns out that the sellers bought another place at the University on paper, and it won't be finished until September 2014, at the earliest.  The realtor, E, asked us if we'd be willing to move into a bigger apartment (the one we have is way too small for us and a baby who is learning to walk) for a year and then move, but I refused.  Moving is extremely stressful for me and I'm sick of living in badly made apartments with leaky windows, mold and noisy neighbors from all directions.
It also seems like they expected to get their asking price.  We offered to go up a little bit and the fact is, we have approval from the bank.  If I wanted to, I could write a check as soon as I brought the down payment over from the US.  In theory, we're a safe bet - if you're serious about selling.
They also tried telling us that they had sunk themselves into debt to redo this house, but IMO, while that's something I would deal with as a Paamonim advisor, as a potential buyer, I don't really care. I feel bad for them, but still need a place to live and have a budget.
It seems to me that they need the money now to cover their debt and the new house, but don't want to move for another 18 mos, at least.

E didn't seem too disappointed by the meeting.  E said they should sleep on it and he told me he would be in touch hopefully this or next week.

In the meantime, I am getting in touch with other realtors.

In the meantime

Off to Segulah today to look for the missing pieces in my mishoach manot and costumes.  Segulah is one of the largest industrial areas in the neighborhood and right outside of Petach Tikva.  Going to take a look at some furniture stores and get an idea of budgeting and deals.

Since we're moving from a 2 room apartment, we need...
EVERYTHING

OK, well not everything, but

2 couches for living room
L couch for den - or vice versa

trundle bed frame
Mita Yehudit for us
2 desks (one for each)
coffee table for living room
end table for coffee table for den
dining room table and chairs

more bookcases (specifically the wood ones sold at Ikea)

oven
stove
and that's just for starters - we also have in mind to get a microwave and a food processor

Since places in Israel like to give you deals if you get everything in one store, it might make sense to get whatever we can now. Will see how nice people are feeling.

And it all begins

Today I called E and told him we want the house.  The price is a little higher than what we want, but E is sure we'll work it out with the owners.  We have an appointment for next week.

I also called the laywer, A.  He's a family friend from S's side.   I told him what we have in mind and he told me
1) Come to an agreement with the owners
2) Send in an engineer to check the place - so that the bank engineer doesn't give us a number lower than what we sign for, making us cough up the difference
3) Call A and he'll start the paperwork

More next week after we negotiate.

Second Round of Houses

After we got the pre-approval, I called another real estate agent, E.  This one, a religious man, knew what I meant when I said I wanted to be close to my synagogue and was much easier to work with..  He found a few things for us to look at and we went this past Friday.

The first house was a similar structure to the house we had seen with C - the fixer upper, but was in very good shape and had been redone inside.  The main floor had the living room, dining area and kitchen.  The kitchen had limited counter space, but an unending supply of cabinets and room to work with the counter problem.
Up a half a floor was a den area and a large bedroom and 1 full bathroom.
Up another half floor were 3 bedrooms and up another half a floor was the laundry room and a large mirpeset (porch).
The house also had a roofed in porch.  The backyard is small, but large enough for a Succah and a few trees.
The downsides - there is no bathtub, but there is room for one in one of the full baths without moving anything.  The backyard is cemented over, but that can be ripped up.
We both loved the place.
The next two places we saw were very nice, but not nearly as what we were looking for as the first one.  I could list thing, but in short, we had found our place.

First trip to the bank

Some realtors make you do this step before you talk to them, but ours didn't care, so we did it after we saw a few houses.

A friend of ours from Ariel had a friend who was a mortgage guy at Mizrahi Tefachot in Airport City, so we called him and made an appointment to sit down with him.

First, we had to bring in S's last 3 paystubs - tlushim, as well as the last 3 months' worth of bank statements.
We told him our approximate house budget as well as how much we wanted to put down.  He started inputting numbers, asking us questions from time to time - when we made Aliyah, etc.

Then we get to the mortgage plans available.  The following information I am copying from http://www.mortgageisrael.com/showpage.asp?pageid=4

with my own edits based on what I learned.

A Shekel linked mortgage at fixed interest

A mortgage at a fixed interest rate linked to the consumer price index for a period of 4 to 30 Years - but they don't like to give them for that long because of the risk of hyperinflation. The bank charges high fees for early repayment.

A linked mortgage at variable interest

A mortgage at variable interest linked to the consumer price index, which can be spread over an extended period of up to 32 years - and thus making it possible to have lower monthly payments.  The mortgage gets adjusted every 5 years.  Also, there are no fees for early repayment

A linked mortgage at the Prime interest rate

A mortgage linked to the prime interest rate (based on the Bank of Israel's Rate) for a period of up to 25 years. Again, they don't like to give them for that long and charge fees for early repayment.

There are also mortgages linked to assorted foreign currencies and Oleh mortgages.  As olim, we are entitled to about 100,000 NIS at a 3% rate that can be paid back at any time (early or on time) and is completely fixed.

Here's how it works. You create a mortgage plan combining these different plans in a way that works for you.  Obviously, the adjustable-rate has the lowest interest, but is the riskiest.

One other thing:  unlike the US, the banks here are very worried about monthly payments and will not give a 10 year fixed mortgage if they think the monthly payment will be too high (even if you have investments abroad).  They would much rather give a 30 year mortgage - which they know you will repay in 20 years - with a reasonable monthly payment. 

However, there is a way around this.  You decide in advance how much you want to pay back in 5 years.  Remember that Adjustable-Rate no fee repayment?  Every year or so, you walk into the bank with a check, thereby shortening the span of the loan be repaying the money.  So, if you put 10 years into an ARM and you repay it in 5 years, you just shortened your time by 5 years.

We finished at the bank and waited for a response.  We got the approval 1 business day later.

First Round of Houses

Before we got an Ishur Ekroni (pre-approval), we were walking home from synagogue one night and passed by a realtor's office.  In the center of Ariel there are a few realtors and my friend and I have made a point of checking the windows from time to time.  This time I saw something interesting in the window - 5 rooms for 1.25 million, so I looked inside and the realtor, C, was in.  I introduced myself and my husband and explained what we were looking for - 5 rooms for 1.2-ish.

Just a reminder, one room is the living room/kitchen, so a 5 room house should have 4 bedrooms.

He was very friendly, but a little on the oily side.  He gave me his business card and we made a plan to see houses later that week.
My impressions of him:  Used-car salesman.  He also mentioned a house that was a "deal" because it needed work.  He kept saying that everything was from heaven.  On the other hand, though he noticed that my parents were there, but did not automatically assume that we could afford something very expensive.

Later that week we met up with him at night to look at houses after S came home from work.
The first house we saw was on HaShikma.  It was a rowhouse with houses attached in either side.  It had a large living room and a decent dining room, but virtually no counter space or cabinets in the kitchen.  The bedrooms were also very small.  Lastly, neither of the bathrooms had room for a tub without serious renovation.  The upside - room under the house around back for an apartment, should we want to build one, and a large backyard.  Also, the house was very nice - redone, pretty, etc.

The second house we saw needed serious work.  It had not been taken care of, and needed spackling and paint.  On the other hand, it was HUGE.  The main floor had a kitchen and living room/dining room. The next floor up had 2 rooms, the floor above that had 2 rooms and the floor above that had 2 rooms.  It also had a gigantic storage closet (machsan) outside in addition to a spacious backyard and front yard.
The downside was that the top floor had obvious water damage in the walls that was either from a bad roof or not airing the rooms out.  If the roof is ok, then it's a quick fix.  On the other hand, it is possible that the entire top floor was done poorly.
The owner also told me that his brother had just redone their roof.  I didn't know what to make of that.
The upside of this house was the number of rooms and their size.
S and I decided that we liked it, but before we did anything, would have a roofer in addition to an engineer take a very good look at the roof.
The asking price was originally 1.2 million, but according to C, the guy lowered it to 1.15 mil to cover repairs.  C also said that all it needed was a new coat of paint.

We decided to see what E, the next guy had to offer.  But first, the bank.

First steps...research

There is a website that every potential homeowner in Israel should know about. 
http://www.madlan.co.il/ tells you what properties have sold for where you're looking.  It tells you the final price as well as the size of the property to give you perspective.

The next place to look is http://www.yad2.co.il/ - though these prices are often a joke (asking price), they give you an idea of what's for sale.

New or Old?

We chose to buy "second hand" for a few reasons:
1) Location - the new stuff being built in Ariel isn't near our synagogue
2) Mistakes - if you buy new, then you are responsible for chasing down the builder every time there is a problem.  Builders want to build new places and make money, not fix their old problems, so unless you know the people who built your house and trust them, you are taking a huge risk.
3) Price

I then talked to a few real estate people.  The first one told me there was nothing in my price range in the size that I wanted, despite the fact that I had seen plenty of things that had sold recently on Madlan.  The second one showed us two places, which I'll discuss in a later post.  The third I will be meeting with tomorrow.

We also got the names of a few lawyers.

Why now?

This blog is going to focus on buying and owning a house in Israel.

We are a late 20s family, one child, for now.  Since we got married, we're lived in various Yechidot Diyur - efficiency apartments created by landlords who either subdivided existing apartments or added on to their own houses. 
Until this year, you needed to cough up around 40% of the cost of a house for a down payment.  There was an option of borrowing that money through EMI and having it rolled into your mortgage, leaving you with very high monthly payments.  In short, you'd be able to afford the down payment, but every month would be a nightmare.

This year, the law changed.  Now, you need between 20 and 30% for the down payment, but can't use a group like EMI.  The new law also says that people who buy investment properties, ie second or third properties have to come up with 50% of the cost of the property.

The 20% peaked our interest, because while we don't have 40%, 20 is a much easier number to swallow.