New construction in Northern Israel.

1. Choose a project and a unit

   Start with the price list (מחירון) and the standard specification (מפרט). The specification is the document that says exactly what you get: finishes, kitchen, air conditioning, storage, parking. It also says what you don’t get.

   Ask for the full specification in writing before you reserve. If something shown in a render or the showroom is not in the specification, treat it as an extra.

2. Reservation and contract

   You need your own lawyer. The developer’s lawyer represents the developer, not you. Ask your lawyer to read the reservation form before you sign it, and the contract before you pay anything on account.

   Agree your lawyer’s fee in writing at the start.

3. A payment schedule spread over the build

   Payments are set out in the contract and are usually tied to stages of construction, so you pay as the building progresses, not all at the start. Check that each payment is linked to a stage you can see on site or in the developer’s report.

4. Your payments are protected by law

   The Sale Law (Apartments) (Securing Investments) says a developer may not take more than 7% of the price from you unless it gives you security. The law lists five kinds: a bank guarantee (or another guarantor), an insurance policy, a first mortgage in your favor, a warning note on the property, or a transfer of ownership to you free of other rights.

   Beyond the amounts set in the regulations, payments are allowed only if they are secured by a guarantee or insurance. Ask to receive the guarantee document with every payment, and have your lawyer check it.

   Source: Sale Law (Apartments) (Securing Investments), 1974 · Law text (Wikisource)

5. Index linkage

   Many contracts link your payments to a price index, so the amount you pay can rise during the build. For the amounts the law protects, the indexation follows the method agreed in your contract; if the contract names none, the law uses the construction inputs index (מדד תשומות הבנייה) published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

   Ask your lawyer which payments are indexed and whether your contract limits how much the price can rise.

   Source: Sale Law (Apartments) (Securing Investments), 1974 · Law text (Wikisource)

6. Delivery, delay and inspection

   The contract states a delivery date. If the developer is late, the law gives you compensation without having to prove a loss: after a grace period, an amount equal to the rent of a similar apartment, rising the longer the delay lasts. The grace period and the multipliers depend on when your contract was signed (the rules were tightened by an amendment, and older contracts follow the older rules), so ask your lawyer which version applies to you.

   The law also sets defect-liability periods that start when the apartment is handed to you, with a longer warranty period after them. Before you accept the keys, have your own building inspector go through the apartment and list every defect in writing.

   Source: Sale Law (Apartments), 1973

7. Registration: the warning note

   Until the apartment is registered in your name, a warning note (הערת אזהרה) on the land registry protects you. While it stands, the registrar will not register a deal that contradicts it, and it still protects you if the property is attached or the seller goes bankrupt.

   Registering the apartment in your name can come well after you get the keys. Ask your lawyer how long it is expected to take in your project.

   Source: Land Law, 1969 · Land Law (Wikisource)

Gallery

• Delays

  Check the developer’s record. Visit a finished project, talk to the people who live there, and ask how late it was. A delivery date is a promise; the developer’s history tells you how much to rely on it.

• Specification versus showroom

  The show apartment is a sales tool. Compare it line by line with the written specification, and ask what is standard and what is an upgrade.

• Extras priced in writing

  Changes, upgrades and parking can add up. Get each extra, with its price, in writing before you agree to it.

• No payment without legal protection

  Do not pay on account until your lawyer has seen the contract and you hold the guarantee or other security for that payment.