Here I built my house with two hands:
many Israelis give up on building the house of their dreams thinking that the road to the swing, the trees and the flowers in the well-kept garden is long and full of obstacles.
We won't give you false promises here, building a private house in Israel is no small thing, and sometimes it can even be tedious, full of bureaucracy and take a long time, but who said it's easy to make dreams come true?
Still, we can guarantee you one thing - with the help of proper planning, learning in advance and receiving guidance and advice from experts in the field, this journey can even be enjoyable from start to finish.
In the following guide, divided into five steps, you will find an answer to one of the most frequently asked questions:
How do you build a private house in Israel and stay sane?
An architect plans to build a private house (Photo: ShutterStock)
First step: preliminary preparation
As mentioned, the first and most important stage, which you are actually performing at this very moment when reading these words, is the stage of preliminary preparation, and it concentrates only on the mental side of the process - understand what you are going towards.
Prepare for the journey you are about to embark on.
At this stage, you should read professional articles in the field of building a private house in Israel, personal stories of dreamers just like you who have experienced the journey you are now embarking on, listen to lectures, consult with experts in the field and anything that will help you absorb as much information as possible.
It is important that at this stage you also summarize everything and make decisions, if you are comfortable in writing and if not, then organize yourself in your head, establish guidelines for the journey and set red lines that you will not be tempted to cross in the following stages.
The most important thing to remember is:
Don't be afraid to take your time in the preliminary preparation phase.
Only when you feel that you really understand in the best way for you the process you are going to go through as a couple and as a family, and are aware of all the options before you, allow yourself to continue to the next steps, in which you must choose the location of the property and recruit the professionals who will design and build the house of your dreams.
Second step: choosing the lot
So where did you dream that your dream home would be located?
On dozens of dunams of land in Moshav in Sharon?
Or even in one of the new neighborhoods in the peripheral cities?
One of the most important steps in building a private house is choosing the lot on which your dream house will stand.
At this stage you will also understand an important thing, a lot is not just a vacant piece of land on which you can build a house.
There are so many parameters that are important to examine and verify before purchasing the lot, including construction licensing, planning and supervision, and more.
Therefore, it is very important to get the help of professionals and experts in the field, such as a lawyer, architect and construction inspector, who know how to do the necessary research on the area itself and its surroundings and help you decide whether this is the optimal plot for building your house.
With the help of the investigation, you can find out the condition of the lot and its topography, the final location of the house in terms of development works (filling and clearing land), accessibility to the lot, whether the lot is legal with building licenses and without exceptions, and of course the environment surrounding the lot, to make sure that no construction is going to be done in front of the future house Yours is a school or a main road.
Of course, even if you decide to purchase the lot despite the things discovered in the investigation, you can always bargain with the seller and reduce the cost he demanded before the investigation.
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Third step: building a budget and getting approval in principle for her mortgage
At this stage you need to understand what the equity capital you can collect for the project and what the estimated total cost is to build the desired dream home.
Prepare a zero cost report by stages to estimate the value of the project. The final budget should consist of the total cost of purchasing the land, including real estate taxes and various levies, the estimated payment to the professionals for planning and building the house including the issuance of the necessary permits.
As with the purchase of a new house from a contractor or a second-hand apartment from a private person, in most cases even in the construction of the house the equity is not enough and it is necessary to take a mortgage from the bank.
Her mortgage for the purchase of land and building a house resembles in its structure the usual mortgage familiar to all of us.
However, the main difference is in the process of receiving the money for the loan, when the bank transfers it to the borrower in several installments, depending on the progress of the construction and the provision of new collateral at each stage.
That is, the bank grants the borrower the amount needed for each stage of the construction process, and the latter will have to prove actual progress in order to receive the amount he requests for the next stage.
For example, in the first stage you can get a mortgage for the purchase of the lot only.
When you want to take out another mortgage also for the construction itself, you will have to show the bank plans and full approvals, which are given by the local authority and other parties.
Without these, the bank will not approve another mortgage for you to continue construction.
Fourth stage: the house planning stage
Have you reached the fourth stage?
What fun you guys have.
The house planning stage is the most enjoyable stage in the construction
, because it basically symbolizes that you have passed the research and theory stage and started working, or rather fulfilling dreams.
In order to start planning, you must first choose the professionals who will help you build the house of your dreams, and if you want to be rational, choose the one who will win over the choir, i.e. the project manager.
In order to increase the peace of mind during a stressful period as well, it is very important to choose one professional who will accompany you through all the stages of planning until the stage of handing over the keys.
Professionals who can do this are engineers, architects, foremen, construction supervisors and any construction professional who knows the work and has accompanied at least one project of this type in the past.
The project manager you choose is the person who will take care of translating your dreams into reality - he will find out how you see the house in front of your eyes, plan and execute the construction plan, help you choose the other professionals to build the house and take care of obtaining the necessary building permits.
In fact, the project manager will serve as your contact with the local planning and construction committee.
Of course, you must carefully check who the professional is that you choose to work with and that he holds an appropriate valid license, and not rely on a personal feeling alone.
After you have chosen the project manager - all that is left for you to do is see how your fantasies take shape and become reality.
Enjoy it.
Fifth step: Form 4
Form 4, or in its full name - Occupancy Approval Form, is one of the final approvals in the construction process of the house, and it is given to you just before handing over the keys to the new apartment.
This is a particularly important and crucial form through which the Authority declares that your home is safe and suitable for occupancy, and that it can be connected to infrastructure such as water, electricity and telephone.
The process of issuing the form can be complicated and take many months or simple and easy, with the help of proper preparation in advance, and take a week.
Lack of knowledge can significantly delay the procedures.
If the construction does not comply with the issued construction permit, for example, the Authority will not issue Form 4 and the procedure will be delayed until the steps are settled.
Therefore, it is important to consult with consultants and experts in the real estate world who will prepare you well for the process.
Illustration: This is what your dream house looks like? (Photo: ShutterStock)
In conclusion, as you can understand from the guide - building a private house is no small thing.
This requires advance and in-depth preparation and a lot of patience during the planning and construction phase.
Remember that when things are done professionally and accompanied by the right professionals step by step - you can expect a minimum of malfunctions and surprises that could lead to exceeding the budget you allocated to yourself at the beginning.
Successfully!
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