Category: Blog Posts

Nineteenth century billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said “Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.” Is this still true, and does it apply to real estate investment in Israel?

The Rational Behind Real Estate Investment

The data suggests that millionaires still make more money from owning property than any other investment, because real estate consistently increases in value over time and outperforms other investments. The wealthiest people collect property portfolios the way they used to collect cars!

While other businesses may come and go, people will always need homes, and the need for housing generally increases year after year. There’s an inherent demand for real estate, because land can be used for so many different purposes, whether commercial or residential. Many people use real estate as a way of protecting their wealth against market fluctuations. Although the real estate market can go down as well as up, the overall value is always increasing, never decreasing.

Real estate is a real asset – it is tangible. It is also not as vulnerable to fluctuations as the stock market, which is subject to many factors outside your control. Unlike many equity investments, including banks and blue-chip companies, brick-and-mortar investments are unlikely to disappear overnight, Real estate is also flexible – if it appreciates you can sell it, and if the market is flat you can rent it out or live in it yourself. Property can be refinanced, redeveloped, and even repurposed if the market changes.

Today, cash kept in a bank is effectively depreciating, because interest rates are below the rate of inflation. This means that money is cheap to borrow, and many people take out bank loans to invest in real estate.

The Reality of Real Estate Investment in Israel

In Israel, it is not so easy to raise mortgage finance as it is in the U.S. and other easy-credit economies. Generally, banks in Israel will insist that the purchaser puts up at least 40% of the purchase price before taking a mortgage for the remaining 60%, and they often require proof of income.

The safest properties for investment in Israel are generally family-size apartments or homes in upscale locations that are always in demand. They provide a consistent cash flow and there will always be a steady supply of good tenants. Israel’s increasing demographics – through high birth rates across most sectors – are all good signals for investing in family homes. The same may not be true in other countries, where divorce rates and the fashion to remain single are favoring smaller property sizes.

Israel is a small country with an expanding population, high marriage and birth rates, and a constant flow of Olim (new immigrants). There are also many political and economic obstacles to releasing more land for development. This means that, despite government attempts to increase the supply of new homes, demand continues to outstrip supply. High property prices in Israel, that make it difficult for young people to rent, have created a strong rental market with good and steady rates of return.

Investing in real estate does not generally yield quick returns, but it’s the best option for long-term investment. At Creative Estates we recommend investing in residential or commercial properties that produce rental income year-round, and making sure that your investment is well managed so you don’t incur unexpected costs that can reduce your profitability.

Talk to Shaun Isaacson of Creative Estates Israel about the best real estate investment options currently available in Israel. Contact us today.

Real estate in Israel can be an emotional as well as an intellectual investment decision. Many Jewish families around the world choose to buy a home in Israel, as a holiday home, with a view to retiring here, or so that their children can make Aliyah, or even “just in case”. Managed well, it can also be a profitable venture.

Owning a property in Israel is a sensible long-term investment, particularly when it is rented out to quality long-term tenants. Creative Estates manages a portfolio of diverse properties throughout Israel’s central region, from Haifa to Bat Yam. Our clients appreciate that we take care of their home as if it was our own, shouldering both the financial and the physical responsibilities.

From finding and vetting tenants and negotiating the rental contract, to managing contractors and liaising with the building management committee and insurance companies, our legal expertise is particularly helpful. We understand overseas investors’ tax liability and ensure that income and property taxes are paid on time. Insurance, utilities bills, rent collection and banking are carefully managed, and we submit monthly reports charting the return on your investment.

Saving you Money and Sparing you Headaches

As a professional property manager with many years’ experience, I am frequently asked whether the benefits of hiring me outweigh my costs. The short answer is yes:  My clients tell me that I save them money and headaches, because property management in Israel is more complex and time-consuming that they realized!

The real value of a property manager comes when something goes wrong. A burst water pipe in the building – typically on a Friday afternoon – is our problem not yours. We have a team of contractors standing ready to make emergency repairs, and we have experience in dealing with insurance claims to ensure that all the costs are covered. We’re here to protect your investment, and that includes organizing regular inspections of your property to ensure that it is well-maintained and weatherproof.

A good property manager knows how to keep your tenants happy and how to find new tenants when they leave, to ensure that your property is never sitting empty. As a native South African who has lived in Israel for most of my life, I know how to manage local contractors, and how to negotiate rental contracts and insurance policies to protect your interests. As a lawyer, I am familiar with regulations regarding rentals, landlords’ and tenants’ legal rights and obligations. Together with my maintenance team, I also manage holiday homes for many of our clients, keeping their beach-front properties in tip-top condition and getting everything ready for their vacation visits.

Spotting the Best Investment Opportunities

At Creative Estates, we stay up to date with all the latest real estate projects around Central Israel, so we can advise you on the best locations to buy properties. Buying properties off-plan in new developments can increase the return on your investment, but they require careful scrutiny throughout the construction process. With new train lines currently under construction throughout the region, we can tell you about the neighborhoods that will soon become prime commuter communities with excellent rental potential. Creative Estates can also help you to rent or sell your existing property in Israel, working with the top local agents and getting you the best possible price.

Shaun Isaacson is a qualified Israeli Lawyer, MBA and Real Estate Agent, and CEO of Creative Estates Israel. You can contact him in complete confidence for investment advice or a price quote for managing your Israel property at shaun@CEIsrael.com

Swimming pool maintenance is a major part of our summer program at Creative Estates Israel, but we actually maintain over 20 swimming pools all year round for our Israel property management clients.

Open air swimming pools require constant maintenance and attention. Your pool should be a source of pleasure and relaxation, not a source of stress and hassle! We help our clients by preparing their swimming pool for use at the start of the summer, or indeed at any time when they or their guests want to use it, and by checking and maintaining it all year round.

Essential tasks include cleaning and filtering the water, checking the chemical levels, maintaining the tiles, the membrane, and the area around the pool. Covers and fences also require maintenance, particularly during the winter, to make sure that they are not compromised. If something falls in the pool and goes unnoticed, it can clog up the filter and cause major mechanical problems later on.

We work with Israel’s leading swimming pool installation and maintenance company to manage all the pools on our properties. They install the latest hi-tech gadgets into all our pools so that we are alerted if there is a problem. For example, our clients have remote control via their smartphone to check the acidity, salt and chlorine levels in their swimming pool, and they receive weekly reminders for maintenance tasks that should be carried out. When they are away from their properties, they pass these reminders on to Creative Estates and we take care of the cleaning, filtering and troubleshooting.

Many of our clients have installed the latest cover alarms on their swimming pools, which alert them remotely if someone opens the cover on their pool while they are away or if someone forgets to close it. Again, our team are always on hand to check on what is happening and make sure that there is no safety issue with their swimming pool while they are absent.

If you have a property in Israel with a swimming pool and you want to make sure that it is professionally maintained, or if you are considering installing a pool, Creative Estates would be happy to advise and give you a competitive quotation.

Some landlords are just happy to sit back and collect the rent from their rental properties, but good property management companies understand the importance of carrying out regular maintenance checks to protect their clients’ investment. Failure to do so can result in costly floods, tenant complaints and lost rent.

These are just seven of the essential property maintenance tasks that Creative Estates carries out on behalf of its clients in Israel, alongside their regular financial and management tasks.

1. Checking for Leaks & Water Damage

Even the arid climate of Israel has a rainy season! Creative Estates always checks each property for cracks and gaps in window seals at the start of the winter, and also after heavy storms, to make sure that the drains on gutters and balconies are not overflowing and causing a build-up of water. Inside the property, we check pipes, boilers and under sinks, looking for early signs of problems and fixing them before they cause water damage. We also flush each of the toilets to ensure that they are working correctly and not wasting water.

2. Extermination of Pests

Ants, cockroaches and other pests can drive away tenants. Regular extermination treatment with environmentally approved and pet-friendly chemicals is essential to keeping any property in Israel pest-free.

3. Bathroom Caulking

Over time, the waterproof seal between baths, showers, basins and walls can dry out and crack. This can cause water to leak through and cause extensive damage. We regularly check the seals and grouting between bathroom wall and floor tiles and replace it as necessary.

4. Smoke Detectors

It is important to check smoke detectors regularly to ensure that the batteries have not expired and they are in working order. Tenants sometimes disconnect them to stop the alarm and forget to reset them. Smoke detectors save lives, and they should be replaced every 10 years.

5. Air Conditioning Filters

The filters in air conditioning systems of all types can become blocked with dust, which forces the system to work harder and increase utility bills. This can also cause malfunctions and leaks. It is usually recommended to check and wash or change the filters every six months. As with many systems, regular maintenance can help to keep them running smoothly so that they break down less and require replacement less frequently.

6. Mail and Utilities

Ignoring important communications that arrive in the mail but get ignored by tenants can cause major problems for landlords. We make sure to check all notifications from utilities companies, ensure that all bills and local taxes (Arnona) are paid on time, and communicate directly with the building’s management committee. We are constantly protecting the property owner’s interests, including checking that the consumption of water and electric consumption is correctly charged.

7. Relationship Maintenance

A happy tenant is a profitable tenant! We try to maintain good relationships with tenants and encourage them to tell us when something is not working in the property. That helps us to fix problems before they deteriorate, and avoids crisis call-outs.

If your property in Israel is not been managed and maintained to this high standard, you can talk to Shaun Isaacson at Creative Estates in complete confidence, and we will give you a price quote for taking over the job.

From rags to riches: real estate prices in Bat Yam, the southern “Cinderella” suburb of Tel Aviv, are rapidly catching up with the rest of the metropolis. T

Just a few years ago, Bat Yam was seen as Tel Aviv’s poor and run-down neighbor, despite its coastal position. Its housing prices were typically 20% lower than the neighboring city of Holon, which is further inland, but now they have overtaken them. Two years ago you could buy reasonably priced housing in the city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, but today the prices are almost on a par with other more fashionable Tel Aviv suburbs.

Bat Yam already has two stations on train route between Tel Aviv and Rishon Lezion. and it will soon have a terminus for the planned Tel Aviv Light Railway. Thanks to a dramatic urban renewal project, which has included upgrading the schools, public spaces and cultural infrastructure, the city now offers attractive options for families looking for suburban neighborhoods with a short commute to Tel Aviv.  As the standard of living in the city improves, Bat Yam will become a high-grade commuter community for the overcrowded metropolis.

Alongside residential developments for commuters, Bat Yam is also developing itself as “the New Israeli Riviera”. It has 6 beaches and a 3.2 km promenade along the sea front that connects up with the Tel Aviv boardwalk south of Jaffa. Three major hotels are being built, together with a park for outdoor cultural activities and a number of luxury high-rise apartment buildings. 

The Sea Park development occupies prime real estate on the coast to the south of the city, close to Rishon Lezion. Its developers have recently sold a number of luxury apartments and penthouses there for over 10 million shekels. Purchasers are willing to pay high prices for an apartment in a luxury tower with a view of the Mediterranean, because it is still significantly lower than comparable properties in central Tel Aviv. Foreign investors are among those snapping up these luxury bargains.

Further back from the sea, ordinary four-room apartments that were sold a few years ago for NIS 2.6-2.7 million are now selling for NIS 3.1-3.2 million. Such a rapid increase in housing prices would never have been realistic in the past, but there are two additional factors at play.  Firstly, the Bat Yam Municipality is giving priority to the building of smaller apartments and favouring the Tama 38 demolition and construction model. This is encouraging investors to buy apartments in buildings slated for redevelopment, in expectation of great returns when these medium sized buildings are replaced with tall towers, comprising many more apartments.

Secondly, a recent announcement by the Ministry of the Interior that the Tel Aviv and Bat Yam municipalities will be merged in 2023 may have added fuel to the fire. Property investors may be taking a view that Bat Yam will soon become a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, and expecting its prices to move toward those of its more exclusive northern suburbs.

The Bat Yam story is a typical Israeli fairy story, where a “Cinderella” city is magically transformed into a real estate “princess”. At Creative Estates we believe in looking beyond the obvious neighborhoods and identifying areas that are ripe for development, in the expectation that they too could undergo a magical transformation in just a few years!

Talk to Creative Estates Israel if you own real estate or are interested in investing in a property in Bat Yam or any other central city in Israel.