This ONE THING Will Help You Find Your Perfect Home!

This ONE THING Will Help

You Find Your Perfect Home!

(These are the thoughts of Ben Levene, CEO and Director of Sales at CapitIL Real Estate)

One of the quintessential components of purchasing real estate successfully is having a realistic budget.

However, it can be a difficult balance trying to respect people’s money restrictions and the current market conditions.

Many clients, when asked how much they would like to spend, come up with an arbitrary number, but it doesn’t match the value of the type of properties that they would like to purchase.

With some clients expecting the Jerusalem real estate market to drop, I many times hear budgets that do not meet market values.

Therefore, while I try to be as polite as possible, with the undervalued budgets, I am unable to find clients what they are expecting to find. 

Market Conditions

I have seen a trend that clients place their predictions of the future market conditions and apply that to what they want to spend. While I respect others' opinions, these are not current market conditions.

From past experience, these clients will sit for years, waiting for prices to drop, and instead miss out on opportunities. In my opinion, the market here is not declining.

Let me explain why.

As a baseline for this article, when I talk about the market, I am referring to the market of properties between 3-6 million shekels.

The demand from abroad, specifically in America, is enormous.

For every 3-bedroom “tick all boxes” apartment that is less than 6 million shekel, located in areas such as Katamon, Baka, and German Colony, the lists of people looking are endless.

It is very rare that an apartment within those parameters that checks all the boxes will sit on the market for very long.

One of two things must happen to bring the market down. Either there must be a massive increase in supply or secondly, people must stop buying apartments.

If supply does not increase, the demand must decrease hugely - something I do not believe will happen.

Balance is Key

Due to the current situation, I highly advise anyone with an arbitrary budget to temper their expectations.

Do not expect to find an apartment that is 100 square meters with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms within fifteen minutes of Talbiya, with parking, modern condition for 4 million shekel - however, it becomes a realistic search if you are willing to drop to 80-85 square meters without parking.

Balance is key.

Without balance, you will not be successful in your property search. I have worked with incredible clients who were realistic about what they could and could not afford, what they were willing to compromise on and what was a dealbreaker, and we were able to find them a fantastic apartment based on their needs.

I urge all my readers to think with an open mind in what is still in my opinion, a tough market for buyers.

Contact CapitIL Real Estate Agency.

See available Jerusalem real estate here and new development projects here.