An apartment in J'lem--should we sell?

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amother

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:05 pm

Hi, My DH inherited a small (110 sq m) 3 bedroom apartment in Jerusalem about 6 years ago. We don't live in Israel so it's been rented out. The property is somewhat old, the kitchen and bathrooms definitely need renovating.

He received an offer from someone to buy the apartment. It's not like we need the money right now because it was for investment anyway. Now he really can't decide whether he should sell or not. He's worrid if Jerusalem property price is in bubble and explode like what happened to US housing market. But we're also concerned once we sell this apartment we'll never be able to buy something else for the same amount of money.

What do the locals think about Jerusalem housing market? Good time to sell, or hold on?
Not sure if this is relevant, but it's in pretty nice area around San Simon(sp?).

Liba

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:09 pm

Jerusalem housing prices will never burst. The bubble is caused by Jews all over the world who want a piece....

I wouldn't sell.

My aunt held onto her apartment for 30 years, while living in NY, and isn't sad that she did.

sarahd

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:09 pm

This may not be a very practical answer, but a friend of my husband went to ask the Belzer Rebbe if he should sell his apartment in J-lem (he had moved to the US for parnassa reasons and could have used the money he would have made from selling the apartment.)

The Rebbe literally jumped up from his chair and exclaimed, "Moshiach is coming any day now and you want to sell an apartment in Yerushalayim?!?"

cubbie

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:13 pm

The expectation in Ym is that prices will continue to rise (estimated at 2% more this year)
If you don't need the money definitely stick with a san simon apartment, it's an up and coming area, there's now a new Mamad school there and many anglos are moving in that direction because the other anglo neighbourhoods are unaffordable. IMHO its a neighbourhood that will continue to rise in price for a long time.

Ruchel

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:21 pm

110 squ meters is small? Confused

Mine is 73. My friends call it "big". My friend has 4 kids in much less. There are families in less than HALF of that.

Liba

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:26 pm

110 square meters is large here Ruchel. If you have over 100 square meters you can't get a reduction on your property taxes on the meters over 100 unless there are more than 10 people living there.

ChossidMom

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:32 pm

Don't sell. The prices just keep going up and will continue to do so.

grace413

Thu, Nov 04 2010, 5:40 pm

In case you needed more convincing, don't sell. You'll always have the value of a 4 room 110 sq. meter apt (a nice size, by the way) in Jerusalem.

I've been around for a long time and have not seen apartment prices ever go down significantly.

catonmylap

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 1:59 am

Don't sell unless you are going to buy something else.

We sold our apartment and 'upgraded' to a much larger place outside the city that cost less.

Or you could get multiple places in another area so you could have more rent coming in....

but if you aren't going to put the money back into Israeli real estate, I'd hold on to it.

zipporah

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 2:03 am

amother wrote:

I'm friends with two families in that area. It's amazing! What you should do is move there. Smile

Don't sell.

Er... I probably don't want to hear, but what are you renting it for?

Tablepoetry

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 3:34 am

Liba wrote:

110 square meters is large here Ruchel. If you have over 100 square meters you can't get a reduction on your property taxes on the meters over 100 unless there are more than 10 people living there.

All the new apartments being built average 90-110 as far as I know. It isn't considered excessively large. Small apartments of 2 bedrooms are no longer being built at all, anywhere in the country (there actually was a huge article about this in one of the papers last week).
I agree with the others. I wouldn't sell - prices are likely to continue rising, although at a slow rate, I think.
I would consider selling if I planned to use the money to invest elsewhere - maybe real estate in the states is a better deal right now.

Last edited by Tablepoetry on Fri, Nov 05 2010, 3:48 am; edited 1 time in total

Marion

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 3:36 am

110m for 3 rooms is NOT small! I think when we rented our 3 room was 85m.

freidasima

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 4:04 am

Ruchel here's another thing to consider when you think Israeli apartments versus French.

When one calculates the metrage of Israeli apartments, in practice the metrage includes the hallway OUTSIDE the apartment on your floor.

Meaning we for example were told originally that we have a 96 square meter apartment. Wow right? Three bedrooms, yerushalayim, gorgeous.

So if you look at it, it's pitzkaleh. I remember asking my parents "so how in the world is this 96 meters?" and then it was explained to us that the rooms are tiny because 16 of those square meters is our half of the hallway and the corridor outside the apartment up to the stairwell! Well lovely, but I can't exactly live there. However this being a condominium style, the entire building belongs to the owners of the apartments so...it includes your section of the hall.

Therefore, at least in the older buildings where they had longer corridors outside on the landings, a 110 meter apartment can have MUCH less practically inside.

Metrage also includes all closed service porches which aren't rooms you can live in, like the laundry porch (you can lose 6-8 meters for that) off the bathroom which is built as a room but in religious buildings with a hole in the ceiling for a sukkah 1x1 meter exactly in mishab apartments (the older ones) etc.

And so...in practice, what was originally our "96 square meter apartment" has less than 72 square meters for living space...and try to imagine that divided up into a living room with dining corner, a kitchen, bathroom, separate toilet and three (!) bedrooms...and let's not forget the service porch off the kitchen/bathroom which has the washer, dryer, freezer, storage (brooms, shmattes, dustcloths, garbage bags) closet...and dh's desk in a corner...that's a "study"...

Yours is 73? A meter bigger than ours? Is that divided up into 5 rooms including a kitchen? So don't get excited by metrage here, it isn't always really precise and your apartment in practice is as big if not more than my "96 square meter" one...

amother

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 5:24 am

catonmylap wrote:

My aunt who used to be a real estate agent in Israel, and visits this site sometimes, so maybe she'll see this, would say to stay in Jerusalem. Other areas, especially anglo areas that are already overpriced, are vulnerable to a bubble and other factors that might make them undesirable. For example, Yad Binyamin had (has?) sewage problems, and is near some nuclear reactor/military airport, and is very overpriced considering its location. Modiin, is suffering from low flying airplanes because of a new flight path, making it very unpleasant for my Anglo friends there (they are selling their place because of that and not able to demand the same money as a year ago). Beit Shemesh is overpriced, and not as in demand as it once was with the development of other Anglo community.

Jerusalem will always be desireable. You will never have a problem finding a buyer. And b'ezrat Hashem you will move there yourself when moshiach comes. Hatzlacha Raba.

sarahd

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 5:32 am

Marion wrote:

110m for 3 rooms is NOT small! I think when we rented our 3 room was 85m.

The three room apartment we rented was 75 sq. meters. Our entire HOUSE now is only 120 sq. meters!

catonmylap

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 6:16 am

She said 3 bedroom, so it's a 4 room apartment.

I would think it's about average sized for a 4 room.

sarahd

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 6:22 am

Whoops, you're right. How did I overlook that? Well, our 5.5 room house is still only 120 sqm.

Ruchel

Fri, Nov 05 2010, 8:32 am

Wow, it counts what is outside?? Yeah, not very useful as you can't live there...

Mine is a 3/4 rooms.
One living room, one small dining room or possible room (hence the 3/4), 2 rooms. Rooms should be at least 9 squ meters to count as a real room and not some tiny place. Our room is 10.5, DD's 10, dining room/possible room 9.
(also a kitchen, a toilet, a bathroom).

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