If you own an Israeli property that may be empty for all or part of the winter season, here are our top ten tips for preventing any floods, leaks or pipe bursts this winter.

Israeli homes are really designed for the summer, which is generally three times longer than the winter season. Most houses and apartments are built with stone floors, poor insulation and minimal drainage systems, unsuited to coping with sudden rainstorms and even snow in some parts of the country.

At Creative Estates Israel, we have many years of experience in managing holiday homes and rental properties and pre-empting winter crises. From experience we know that all Israeli properties, whether tenanted or empty, should always be thoroughly checked at the start of the winter to ensure that they are weather-proof.

Our Israeli Property Winter Checklist:

1) Clean Gutters and Drains

Before the first rainfall of the season, make sure that water cannot collect in places where it may cause flooding inside your property, such as window ledges, door sills and air conditioner pipes. Ask your upstairs neighbours to do the same, so that you do not find water leaking through your ceiling from their balcony. Your building manager (Va’ad Bayit) should also clear leaves and garbage from the drains and walkways around the entrances to the building, to prevent flooding and slipping accidents.

2) Check for Leaks and Cracks

Water can seep through the smallest cracks and will always find the weakest points through which to escape, often causing leaks or dampness in the walls. You may be able to see the marks of damp or mold on the walls or ceilings showing where last winter’s leaks occurred. Persistent dampness during the winter months can cause allergies and breathing difficulties, as well as damaging furniture, furnishings and the building structure. Landlords are expected to protect their properties against leaks and dampness, and they may be held liable for damages caused to their neighbors if they fail to do so.

3) Water Heating Systems

Most residents and tenants only turn on their supplementary electric water heater when the weather turns cloudy and cold. If it has been unused during the summer, it is sensible to check your water heating system before you turn it on for the first time. Boiler systems may be used to power radiators as well as providing a supply of hot water, so you should have both functions checked. Lives can be saved by removing bird’s nests and other blockages from flues, because if the ventilation system is blocked when the boiler is turned on you might cause carbon monoxide poisoning. When calling a maintenance engineer, remember that Israeli boiler systems are known collectively as ‘Yunkers’, named after the original Israeli manufacturer.

4) Central Heating Systems

In apartment buildings, the central heating may be centrally controlled by the management committee, with fixed dates for turning them on and off. Individual apartments may have supplementary air conditioning units or other electric room heaters.

5) Position Room Heaters

Put safety first when positioning and using electric room heaters. Keep them out of reach of children and make sure that soft furnishings – curtains, cushions, mattresses and clothes – cannot fall onto them and cause a fire.

6) Adjust Air Conditioning Units

Many people choose to use wall-mounted air-conditioning units for heating during the summer. If so, it is crucial to adjust the vents so that they point downwards to send warm air circulating around the room. Otherwise the upwards setting that you use for cold air in the summer will just heat your ceiling! Remember to clean the filters too.

7) Add Window Insulation

Israeli homes have very little insulation, so precious heat can be lost through windows and walls. It may help to check that your trissim (window blinds) close tightly and do not rattle in the wind. Hanging curtains and putting draught-excluders along cracks in walls and under doors can keep help to keep the cold outside and the heat inside.

8) Prepare for Power Cuts

It’s not unusual for the power to go out at any time, so it’s good to prepare emergency back-up systems such as alternative power supplies for important appliances like freezers and computers, emergency lights for stair wells, and supplies of candles and matches. In some areas it is advisable to keep a kerosene heater or other non-electric heating source to keep you warm during extended power outages.

9) Protect Water Pipes

If your home is in an area where the pipes may freeze, we recommend leaving a tap dripping slowly during very cold periods, to prevent pipe bursts. It’s a good idea to disconnect outdoor watering systems during the winter, to save water and to protect the pipes and connectors from damage.

10) Check on Empty Properties

If there are empty properties in your building that are not taken care of, all the above problems can spread from their apartment to yours. Leaking pipes that go undetected can cause long-term water damage in other parts of the building. If you know that your neighbours are going away for the winter, recommend that they get a good Israeli property company to check on their home.

Creative Estates manages properties all over central Israel and we send our maintenance teams to every property to check that everything is ready for winter and stays water-tight. To speak to Creative Estates about checking and managing your property in Israel, contact Shaun@CEIsrael.com

Taking the long view of Israel’s historical property “roller coaster” shows that predictions of a bubble about to burst are clearly wishful thinking for purchasers! Shaun Isaacson sees a long-term upwards trend that is likely to continue.

If I had a time machine, the first thing I would do is go back to 1948 and buy property in Israel.

According to a historical survey by the Israeli Government’s Property Assessor, Ohad Danus, the prices of properties in Israel over the past 60 years have risen steadily. Over the past 12 months since June 2015, apartment prices rose by an average of 8%, but this is not some unsustainable “bubble” as some analysts have claimed. It is part of a steady trend. Examination of the exceptions to that trend – historic periods when prices dropped dramatically – shows that this trend is likely to continue.

In the late 1960s and 1970s the fall in real estate prices in Israel can be clearly attributed to Israel’s insecure security situation – wars and a crisis of confidence. However, the influx of millions of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in the 1980s required  huge construction projects to increase the supply of housing and resulted in an increase in prices, so that by 1989 property prices had returned to their 1968 levels and continued to climb until 1997.

Economist Yaniv Hevron from Excellence explains the second drop in prices – a decrease of almost 10% from 1997 to 2003 – as having been caused by the bursting of the hi-tech bubble, which had become the driving force in the Israel economy. He points out that the resultant global recession was followed by the Second Intifada from 2000-2003, which contributed to the lack of confidence among local and international investors. The contraction of Israel’s economy continued until 2008, with the international property crisis in 2007 having only an indirect and muted impact on Israeli property prices. Because Israel’s banks are reluctant to extend credit to home buyers, the property market was protected from the runaway credit crisis that hit the United States and many European countries. By 2008, prices had started to rise again, and that trend can be seen to be continuing through 2016.

Will the Bubble Burst?

Based on this long-term historic analysis, we can see that a fall in Israel’s housing prices is only likely to be triggered by a severe economic crisis or a significant war (G-d forbid!). Creative Estates CEO Shaun Isaacson, who follows these trends carefully, believes that there are more potential factors that are likely to cause continued price inflation in the years ahead.

“Increased Aliyah – whether from Europe or the United States, where the political climate is unstable – would undoubtedly put a major upwards pressure on property prices”, explains Shaun. “I am sceptical that the government can relieve the housing shortage by increasing the supply of new homes – over the past 2 years we have seen very little progress with this policy, and the rate of births and marriages in Israel’s fast-growing population will ensure that demand keeps pace with supply.”

What is clearly an issue for aspiring Israeli property owners is that the cost of buying an apartment or house remains out of reach for many. The historic price analysis carried out by Ohad Danus shows how property prices have risen when measured against the average Israeli salary. At the end of the 1980s, a purchaser needed to invest 80 times the average Israeli salary to buy an apartment. Today, one needs to allocate almost 150 times the average Israeli salary and invest 12 years of work in order to afford to buy an average apartment.

Shaun Isaacson explains that this statistic, more than any other, explains the strength of Israel’s rental market throughout the country. “While young people cannot afford to buy a home, they must continue to rent for many years, and that is why the rental market in Israel is strong and profitable for investors, and looks likely to remain that way for a long time!”

Shaun Isaacson and Creative Estates Israel can help with your property investment and management of your rental property in Israel – contact Shaun@CEIsrael.com for a confidential consultation.

At a time of great international instability, economic uncertainty and threats to personal safety, this may be the right time to buy property in Israel as an investment for your family. Creative Estates Israel CEO Shaun Isaacson invites you to ask yourself some probing questions.

Are you comfortable with your country’s political leadership? Do you feel that your government is taking international terrorism seriously? Are you concerned about the resurgence of anti-Semitism? With unimaginable events happening all over the world, perhaps you and your family would actually feel safer living in Israel?

Many Jewish people around the world feel reassured by the knowledge that they can always move to Israel if things get too difficult where they live. Since 1948, the Jewish State has promised a Right of Return to all Jews, and many families in the Diaspora have invested in real estate with one eye on the future.

Reasons for Buying Real Estate in Israel

With Israeli hotel prices rising each year and the increasing trend among young Jews to make Aliyah, owning a home in Israel makes sense for many families. Not only does it put you on the property ladder, with an asset that can be converted into a family home in the future, but it also gives you a holiday home and a “landing pad” for children who come to live in Israel.

Owning property in Israel clearly makes economic sense, offering a better return on investment than most other assets. You can borrow money cheaply and fund a mortgage with rental income, or invest savings or an inheritance in rapidly appreciating Israeli real estate.

When is the Right Time to Buy?

The truth is, it’s never the perfect time to buy, because it is almost impossible to align all the economic and personal factors involved in real estate purchase, such as cash flow, exchange rates, market prices and the availability of properties. But it may be the right time for you. Ask yourself these five questions:

1. Do you want to own a property in Israel?
2. Are the economic indicators positive?
3. Do you feel comfortable in Israel?
4. Do you know your family’s requirements?
5. Could you organize finance to make it happen?

If your answers to any three of these five questions is “YES” then now is the right time for you to buy property in Israel.

Buying to Rent in Israel

For many investors, the key to making an Israeli real estate purchase is to organize good rental management to insure a good rate of return on your investment. If you can structure your property purchase in such a way that rental income will cover the purchase costs, then real estate in Israel can be a profitable and worthwhile investment. Most importantly, it opens the door for you and your family to consider moving to Israel, by deepening your connection with the Jewish state and keeping your options open.

Contact us today to discuss buying an Israel property to rent.

Shaun Isaacson is a qualified Israeli lawyer, MBA, Real Estate Agent and an experienced property and investments manager, managing properties over the Sharon Region. 

If you live in Israel, or own a property in Israel that you visit in the summer, check out our tips on preparing your Israeli home for the long hot summer.

1) Air Conditioning
How did we ever manage without it?! Before the heat gets too intense, we recommend that you check that each of your air conditioning units and fans is working, and that you have the right remote control handsets.

2) Clean your Filters
The amount of fluff that can collect and clog your air conditioning units is unbelievable!  Simply remove each filter, rinse, dry and replace. With this simple step your air will be cleaner and your electricity bills lower when you cool your home this summer.

3) Clean your Solar Panels
Up on the roof they are liable to get forgotten, but the accumulation of mud and dust over the winter may be blocking the light from your solar panels. If you can’t climb up to clean and check your panels, it’s worth hiring a maintenance man to do so – you will save money on water if your solar water heating system works more efficiently as a result.

4) Bug Extermination
If you don’t want ants in your kitchen or cockroaches in the shower this summer, it’s worth hiring an exterminator once a year. Ask for “Hadbara” or “Risus” in Hebrew, and check that your exterminator is licensed for the safe use of dangerous chemicals. Plan his visit for a day when you can stay out away for a few hours after spraying, and keep children and pets away until the chemicals have been thoroughly cleaned up.

5) Watering Your Plants
Without rain your plants will quickly die, so make sure that your indoor plants and outdoor garden are well-watered. Israeli drip irrigation systems are usually computer-controlled and require minimum supervision – ask an expert to set it up, then sit back and enjoy the flowers!

6) Pool Maintenance
If you have a swimming pool or other water features, they need to be regularly maintained throughout the summer, whether you are using them or not. If you are away, find a reliable pool company to service your pool and clean your filters regularly.

7) Enjoy the Sunshine through Clean Windows!
Window-cleaners are not common in Israel (we know some if you want a recommendation) but there are also tools available to help you clean even inaccessible windows. Wait until after the last spring rains to give the glass and the blinds (trissim) a really good wash. The results can be enlightening!

8) Roof Repairs and External Painting

Summer is the best time to take care of the exterior surfaces of your property – plastering any cracks and painting the walls. White-washing the roof can really help to reduce the heat inside your home.

9) Treating Showers and Baths
Because we use them more in the summer, we recommend treating your shower heads, faucets (taps) and ceramic surfaces with anti-calk cleaning fluid, to remove calcium deposits and keep the water flowing smoothly.

10) Defrost and Chill Out!
If ice builds up in your freezer, now is the time to clean it out and defrost it. This helps to ease the burden on the freezer motor so that it can chill your drinks more efficiently!

Creative Estates Israel manages properties all over central Israel, and we send our maintenance teams to every property to check that everything is ready for summer.

Speak to Creative Estates about managing your property in Israel – contact Shaun@CEIsrael.com