In some cases you would not need to read such an article, but it does not hurt to know the nuts and bolts of what your lawyer should be doing to make your real estate transaction is completed in a swift and professional manner without crisis.

First of all you should select a real estate lawyer with expertise in real estate. Don’t only go by recommendation, check yourself that the lawyer has a background in real estate.

Financial support - Developers have a financial agreement with a bank that is backing the project, in exchange the constructor mortgages the property to the bank. In addition the bank can sometimes provide personal mortgages at attractive rates, cutting down paperwork and speeding up the process. Your real estate lawyer should make sure that once you pay for the property, it belongs to you and not the bank. In addition, a down payment of 15% entitles you to an official bank guarantee as defined by the law “hok mecher” (חוק מכר).

Property specifications - The developer is obliged to attach a specification document including all technical assets of the property. This document will include detailed information such as materials used, door and window type and all other technical specifications. Please note that is is your responsibility to make sure that the specification meet your requirements and that if there are requested changes to make them as early as possible, the later the changes, the more expensive they become, especially when the changes are related to electricity of plumbing after the floor is down, or the wall has been plastered. If the building is partially up, I would recommend checking the progress to see if the written specifications are really fulfilled. It is standard procedure to visit the property during construction with due notice to check on the progress.

Liability - The contract (חוזה מכר) has to specify the liability of the constructor to fix any faults and defects in the property, and in what time frame. The contract should  also state the period of responsibility for deterioration in the property. Please note that the “hok mecher” defines the exact timeline for specific items such as cracks, plumbing and a range of other items that are covered by the constructor according to law.

Property rights - The lawyer should first check the property rights (טאבו) to check who the physical ground belongs to (should belong to the developer in most cases) and that the developer has a licence to start construction. Do not assume that since the developer has started working that they have been issued a licence. It is a good idea to look at the city building plans “teva” (תוכנית בניין ערים) to understand the nearby construction plans in the case of the new neighborhood.