Property In Israel

When buying or selling a real estate in israel, the price must be taken into account when making the deal. Not only is there the price which you will be paying or receiving, there are a number of other costs which may arise bit expected and unexpected.

On the sale of property in Israel, there is a purchase tax which must be paid by the buyer in a property transaction. This tax is between 3.5% and 5% of the total purchase price of the property. Those who are residents of Israel, however, will pay .5% less if they only own one property.

If there is a couple where one already owns a piece of property, one partner will have to pay the higher purchase tax rate. If a property transaction takes place between family members, then the purchase tax is assessed at only one third the standard rate.

Another tax to be paid is the Sales Tax. This has to be paid by the seller, and its rate is 2.5% of the value of the sale or 0.8% of the sale of a residential property by a building contractor. In many cases, if the seller is a private individual, and not a company, there is no charge of sales tax.

Commissions paid to real estate agents are paid by both buyer and seller. However, a good real estate agent can save you more money than you will have to pay to them, thanks to their extensive experience and knowledge. Typically, the commission paid to the broker is 2% of the inclusive price of the property at the time of sale. When leasing a property for a term of one year or longer, there will be a VAT of one month’s rent along with the commission (17%). The commission is payable upon signing the contract to purchase or lease real estate in israel.

A real estate lawyer will charge a fee of 1.5% (plus the VAT) when buying a property from a contractor. This fee is to pay the fees of the contractor’s lawyer. When buying a property not at first hand, the lawyer will charge between .5% and 1% plus VAT.

If you chose to bring a property inspection engineer to see the property before making the purchase (this is mostly advised when buying a used property) you will have to pay an additional fee of 400$-500$ plus VAT, but this changes according to the size of the property.

Payments for property purchases in Israel are generally made in Israeli Shekels (NIS). When converting from other currencies to Shekels, banks typically charge a fee of somewhere between .01% and .05% of the amount being converted to Shekels.

Technorati Tags: apartments, Home & Garden, homes, homes in israel, house, israel real estate, properties in israel, property, real estate, real estate in israel