Talk to me about Harish

amother

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 10:45 am

banana123 wrote:

We're not in a rush. And prices will drop eventually.

If we can't buy with no mortgage, we'll go for a short mortgage.

I agree with Coffee about not waiting too long.

I have no idea if this would work in Israel, but I remember reading about a property tycoon. Who was a millionaire by age 30, who started out with just $5K in savings!

I think he was just 18 when he used his $5K savings to buy a parking spot in a busy downtown area, I don't remember which city.
He then saved up the rent from that, as well as income from a part-time job and soon bought another spot. Obviously this is exponential as the income from the rentals increases, so he bought the next spot really soon and then another and so on.

The advantage of lots of small rents coming in is that if one stops paying, you still get rent from all the others.

So by the time he graduated from college in his early 20s he already had quite a steady income and with his salary was able to buy a small place to live, which he paid off within a couple of years. He also bought a second place to rent out, and as the rental income kept on increasing he kept buying more properties, with a million dollar portfolio by the time he turned 30!

I keep pushing my kids to buy *something *, no matter how tiny, as soon as possible.
The oldest graduated a couple of years ago and is saving up to buy, but prices are increasing, so I wish he would hurry up.

I bought my first home much too late and we ended up making a huge loss in the crash of 2008 and starting again from scratch.

Just One

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 10:46 am

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

I've lived here 30 yrs. Prices rarely, rarely drop. Definitely not substantially and not long term.

This. Real estate prices don't really go down plus if you're currently renting you're throwing away money monthly that could have gone towards paying off a mortgage

amother

Ruby

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 10:58 am

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

Well, your situation is also not the norm. Very few Israelis can 'easily' buy a 2.2 million nis property, let alone in their twenties, let alone if the wife is a SAHM.

We're living in the merkaz and all our friends are in the same boat, all buying well over 2 million. And DH has a nice job but nothing amazing, a hi-tech job he secured after finishing in the army. He bought 'small' when he was still in the army, they did TAMA on the apartment and he sold it for a lot of money, much of which payed for our current apartment.

I strongly agree with those who said to buy rather than rent. Renting is dead money and prices will never really drop.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:22 am

amother [ Ruby ] wrote:

So you didnt actually buy a 2 2 mill home just like that. You sold something first and from that you were able to buy.
Most young couples, no matter the jobs they have, cant afford such homes.

chanchy123

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:32 am

OP is selling three properties in the boonies in US (actually I’m not sure it’s the US) with that 1.6 million NIS I’m sure she can buy something very nice in the boonies here. In fact, my not so small private home with a large piece of land can be bought for considerably less - however, it’s equally in the boonies (but half an hour’s drive from the capitol city). You can’t expect to exchange a home in the boonies in one country with an equally priced home in prime real estate (within an hour’s drive from the airport in a large enough town to include people of all walks of life and ages), especially if they want a home with a yard or garden.

amother

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:51 am

chanchy123 wrote:

LOL. Not the US, you're correct, and not quite the boonies (except the vacation home which really is in the boonies!), but a smallish city. I'm quite happy living OOT and don't mind moving to a similar city in Israel.

I specifically asked about Harish because it seems like a good compromise on all our criteria. As does Hadera which is definitely now on our list Smile

chanchy123

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:52 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Good luck!

amother

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:59 am

chanchy123 wrote:

Ok I did a short search on Yad2 for garden apartments and private homes under 1.6 million. Seems like Haifa and Beer Sheva areas have many Affordable options, in Beer Sheeva you can get a nice place for a lot less. Another option is Ashkelon.

Thank you

All of those are places we've discussed. We have friends in both Beer Sheva and Ashkelon.
My friend in Beer Sheva hates living there, so that has put me off somewhat.
My friends in Ashkelon love it there and we are definitely considering it on our shortlist. I've been there a few times and I love that the beach is still kind of wild.

I don't know Haifa well at all, and the only time I visited I got horribly lost and all the steep hills drove me mad, but I'd consider going back and getting to know it better. I've seen quite a few reasonably-price homes for sale in the Kiriot, so we'll definitely be checking it out.

Most of our friends in Israel live in or around Ra'anana/Netanya, though, so Harish and Hadera have the advantage of being closer to them.

amother

Coffee

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 1:29 am

amother [ Ruby ] wrote:

Just a heads up - Harish has loads of ups and downs, it's not easy to walk around there on foot

Hadera on the other hand is quite flat. Very few hills, and they are not steep.

But the plus of places with steep hills (Tzfat, Jerusalem etc) is that you are far more likely to have a beautiful view out your window.

banana123

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 2:59 am

Just One wrote:

This. Real estate prices don't really go down plus if you're currently renting you're throwing away money monthly that could have gone towards paying off a mortgage

Renting isn't throwing away money.
https://www.daveramsey.com/blo.....usted
https://www.moneyunder30.com/r.....money

If we find a really really really good deal - then we will buy even with a mortgage. But stam for the sake of saying we own a home, we're not going to get into debt for that.

banana123

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:00 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Thank you

Be'er Sheva is a great city. Did your friend explain why she hates it?

chanchy123

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:02 am

banana123 wrote:

For what it’s worth, I agree with Banana - renting long term can be the right thing to do financially.

amother

Coffee

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:13 am

chanchy123 wrote:

For what it’s worth, I agree with Banana - renting long term can be the right thing to do financially.

I think in rare cases it can be the right thing, if those doing it rent under their means and invest the rest.

I do know some business people who rent long term, but they are leveraging capital and investing in other ways.

For the average person, if he rents long term then at 60 or 70 he is left with no major asset, and maybe only modest savings. Whereas if he bought, then at least he has a house or apartment when he retires, very often without mortgage by that point .

It's the difference between finding yourself at 70 with 200k nis in the bank, or finding yourself with a 1.5 M apartment (or more likely, a 2M or more home, because real estate goes up in value).

Now not everyone can buy. You need a downpayment. There's something to that adage, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But IMO if you can swing a downpayment, in most cases it's far better to buy. (Even a small investment apartment to rent out).

banana123

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:19 am

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

The problem is that many people buy when they need not only a mortgage but also an additional loan to make the hon atzmi. And then when, for instance, they are laid off or can't work for a few months, they start racking up debt like crazy. And that debt may or may not be paid off by the time they retire, but in the meantime they are living in the red.

It's only smart to buy if you've completed baby steps 1-3, AND have enough money to cover sudden expensive repairs while you are possibly laid off.

I agree with you that investing is important.

About renting it out....we've seen too many people end up with bad renters who cost the owner thousands, with apartments that sit empty for a year or two, and so on. We would want to buy a home we wouldn't mind living in. Otherwise it is just a huge investment with a lot of risk and possibly no long-term benefit. Of course this depends on the area, but usually "investment apartments" in Israel are in areas that are cheap, and often in those areas apartments sit empty for ages.

Last edited by banana123 on Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:22 am; edited 1 time in total

grivky

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:19 am

A Facebook group with more helpful info is “Israel communities for Anglo Olim” . You really cannot get any helpful info about Harish from the fb pages you posted. They’re helpful for looking for a carpenter or plumber..... there’s also “secret 5Ts” referring to the 5 towns in this area- Zichron yaakov, caesarea,hadera, pardes Chana and Binyamin- I think. It’s not helpful for finding info about Harish, but it can tell you about Anglo resources in the area....

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

If you know Hebrew, there's a facebook group with 13k members called חריש הבית שלי, where it seems you could ask all these questions. There's also חריש שלי- פירגוניישן with 4.3K members.

There's also a group in English called English Harish with 267 members, for residents or those interested in moving to Harish.

If you want to take a look at Hadera too, there's a Hadera English Speakers group with over 350 members.

grivky

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:27 am

Have you considered Pardes Chana? Harish is great and although it’s mostly young families, there are families with older children, but significantly fewer. Pardes Chana housing may be a bit more expensive, but they have more a variety of types of housing- apartments, private houses, attached houses. Lots of different types there, although not too many chareidi.

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm 46 and DH is 50, so retirement is not really on the horizon just yet. We have 6 kids aged 16 - 26, some of whom I'm hoping will follow us and start families themselves (only the oldest is engaged so far, the others are still students). My 21yo is autistic and will be moving with us (possibly also my 72yo mother).

I'm a GP (family doctor) and would prefer to work somewhere with families and a mix of social groups, than just retired, wealthy olim, for example.

amother

Coffee

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 3:38 am

grivky wrote:

Pardes Hana is great, a great place with a very heterogeneous population. It also has a quite a few nature types, crunchy granola/vegan/homeschooling. And the old timers, and everything in between. Very mixed.

BUT it's considerably more expensive than either Harish or Hadera, AFAIK.