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.