A friend of mine, Eliyahu Hadad, who recently made aliya from New Jersey and who is currently shopping for an apartment in Ramot wrote to me about his frustrating experiences looking for a house.
“One day out in sunny Ramot, I was optimistic that today may be the day I would find an appropriate house. The homeowner pulled up in a nice BMW and took out the keys to the house. Before going in, he needed to tell me, “Do you know that this is the Beverly Hills of Jerusalem?” Looking across at the hill covered with sand and rock, I gathered from his statement that he never in his life went to Beverly Hills. He was very excited to point out that several prominent rabbis were his neighbors. Going out to the back, where he showed me his swimming pool, I noticed the overwhelming lack of privacy. His pool was in fact in front of all of these rabbis’ dining rooms. I cringed at the thought of running around in my bathing suit while being gazed upon by the neighbors. Every room was a bit more spacious than my walk-in closet back in the US. I pointed out that he had no AC, to which he responded, ‘there are so many breezes it would be a shame to have an AC.’ Outside, I asked him the price. With a smile he told me $1.2 million. He then told me how his neighbor recently sold his home, which he claims, is not as nice as his, for $1.5 million."
Eliyahu’s frustration is common. One would think that a house with a price tag of $1.2 million would be almost flawless; however, there are equally the same amount of imperfections and problems in expensive homes as in inexpensive homes.
Many long for a home in Jerusalem, but the product, the house itself, is sometimes less than what the home shopper expects.
On one hand, construction in Israel is superior to construction abroad since the homes are usually built with concrete. The buildings themselves are strong. Hurricane winds will not knock them down; termites are a non-issue (termites are so rare that one building in central Israel that was infested with termites made television news); even rodents such as mice are less common than abroad; and the familiar, distressing sound of fire engine sirens in the US is almost unknown in Israeli cities.
Yet many foreigners still feel challenged when choosing their Jerusalem dream home because of other Israeli standards. The “finish” in Israel differs from the “finish” in the US and Europe. Inviting, lavish entrances into apartment buildings, for example, were not seriously considered in Jerusalem until very recently. The expectations and demands of foreign buyers have affected the luxury style more common in Jerusalem today. Many times, buyers will be shown apartments that have not been renovated since they were built, and the aesthetic beauty of mid-income properties was not a priority for builders until the late 1990s. In Jerusalem, especially in the older neighborhoods, such as Baka, Katamon, Rehavia and Geula, apartments are sometimes presented with “creative add-ons.” Storage rooms and indoor parking areas may have been fixed up a bit and then sold as an integral part of the house. Basements with low ceilings can be advertised as “potential rental apartments.” Attic rooms with slanted roofs will be sold by the floor area even though it’s difficult for someone to stand up straight in a large percentage of the room. Walk-in closets are sometimes presented as “small bed rooms,” or “dressing rooms” and a nook in a hallway may be referred to as “half a room.”
Homes in Jerusalem may not be what olim are used in their hometown in USA and certainly in Europe. There are many nice homes though, and with a realistic and flexible attitude one can find a nice place.
If you are presented with a home that answers many of your needs, but lacks renovations or ideal planning, don’t hesitate to hire an interior designer. If you can afford paying for the changes, the headache of remodeling will be a minor inconvenience, and you can always hire reliable people to overlook the remodeling work for you.
If you have a dream to own a home in Jerusalem, follow it. Realize that standards are different, room sizes are different and sellers seem overconfident about the value and beauty of their property. If you don’t compare your encounter with Israeli real estate to what you are used to, you will be able to be successful in purchasing your home in Jerusalem.
Baruch Finkelstein is an owner/broker of Remax Center in Jerusalem. The office is in the shopping center of Ramot and Baruch has agents that service all of Jerusalem.
cell: 972-545-251-219
office: 972-2-586-9980
baruch.finkelstein@remax.co.il