Before you sign, know what you don’t know.
You are about to commit millions of shekels in a legal system you cannot read. A few short questions return a written Roadmap of every issue your purchase raises, ordered by when each one bites.
Where do you live?
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- Canada
- South Africa
- Australia
- Already in IsraelOlim and residents
- ElsewhereAny other country
No account. About five minutes. Private. General information, not legal advice.
Illustrative sample for a foreign resident buying a new build. General information, not legal advice.
- Built by
- Netanel Kimchi & Co.
- Real estate law
- Ness Ziona, Israel
- Before you start
- No account. About five minutes. Private.
- Your result
- Ordered by when each issue bites
Cheap to handle early. Expensive to find late.
Three issues foreign buyers and olim often meet too late. Each one has a moment when it starts to cost money.
- Weeks before signing
The power of attorney deadline
If you will not be in Israel to sign, someone needs written authority to act for you. Signed abroad, it usually has to be notarised and apostilled, or signed at an Israeli consulate.
Cost of leaving it lateA missed signing date, or an unplanned flight to Israel. - At every payment
A developer guarantee for each payment
Money paid to a developer has to be secured, usually by a bank guarantee. It is issued against each payment you make, not once for the whole price.
Cost of leaving it lateA payment made without its guarantee may not be protected if the developer runs into trouble. - Around your aliyah date
Timing the oleh purchase-tax benefit
Olim can be entitled to reduced purchase tax, but only on a purchase made inside a window set around the aliyah date, and on conditions that have changed in recent years.
Cost of leaving it lateSign outside the window and the reduced rate may be lost on a purchase worth millions.
Contract reading
Upload the draft. See what is worth asking.
Israel Buyer reads the contract you have been sent and lists the points worth raising, quoting each clause. It never tells you what to do about them. That is your lawyer’s job.
Sale agreement · Draft 1
Point 3 of 9
“12.3 The Company shall be entitled to deviate from the Delivery Date by up to 60 days, and such deviation shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement.”
Worth asking
Delivery can slip two months without counting as a breach. How does this clause affect any compensation you would otherwise be owed for late delivery?
Netanel Kimchi
Founding Partner, Netanel Kimchi & Co. · Real estate law · Ness Ziona, Israel
Israel Buyer was built from the questions foreign clients ask the firm after it is too late to change the answer. It does not give legal advice. It tells you what to ask a lawyer, and when.
The Israel buyer’s checklist, sent to your email
The documents, deadlines and questions to have ready before you sign, on one page. Read it now.