Israeli real estate agents want to pamper Western house buyers to encourage them to buy a home or second home in Israel. Real Estate Participations Ltd. (REP), a large real estate management company, that is both a subsidiary of the Jewish Agency and partner to the organization in the initiative, is promoting home ownership and aliya (immigration of Jews to Israel), according to Ha'aretz, an independent daily newspaper with a broadly liberal outlook on domestic issues and on international affairs.
"The first thing a potential immigrant is going to ask himself is whether he has a good home to come to," says REP chief Zvi Ramot. The project, he says, "aims to kill two birds with one stone," by encouraging aliya and "awakening" the slow real estate market by recruiting more home buyers."
Buying a home (or a second home) can be handled by REP, as well as the ongoing management of the property. REP will charge a fee of 3 percent of the purchase price to provide their services. They have identified 12 residential housing projects across the country that they feel are suitable for Western buyers based on location, size, price range, and facilities available in the area. A buyer is also free to purchase directly from a builder.
The new construction homes are in Ariel, Nofim, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, Gedera, Tel Mond, Kadima, Even Yehuda, Zichron Ya'acov, and Atlit. The home lots start at $40,000 and home prices from $270,000.00. Rentals are also available. REP provides total management of the purchase process and of the property throughout the entire term of ownership, including renovations and upkeep.
REP will market their services to potential immigrants from South America (especially Argentina) and South Africa, where economies are flagging. Jewish Agency emissaries in those countries will promote the initiatives as well as those in North America and Europe, particularly in England, France, and Germany (where many Jews from the former Soviet Union are living).
REP has created an English-language Web site (and will soon add a Spanish version), which offers video tours of the housing sites. Ramot admits that North America will be a huge challenge for REP, reinforcing the need to determine the target market and speaking their language. South Africans will more likely be convinced if they can move into a community of South Africans in Israel. Group aliya and settlement will be encouraged to populate new neighborhoods.
A decade ago, during the mass immigration from the former Soviet Union, the federation helped the government with the so-called "direct absorption," placing settlers straight into new homes instead of first sending them to absorption centers. REP's plan will decrease the workload for the federation creating such housing projects, which includes overseeing legal details and hiring engineering firms to inspect the housing for the quality of work.
Pat Rioux
