How to buy property in Israel, step by step: from the zikaron dvarim to the Tabu

The six stages

1. 1
   Search and viewingOn your own, with an agency, or remotely by video.2 to 8 weeks
2. 2
   Zikaron dvarimA written pre-agreement that is already binding. Sign it with your lawyer, not before.day 0
3. 3
   Lawyer’s checksTabu, liens, zoning, debts, permits. There are no notaries in Israel.1 to 3 weeks
4. 4
   MortgageApproval in principle before the contract, full file after.2 to 6 weeks
5. 5
   Sale contractHeskem mechira signed, deposit paid, payment schedule set.day 15 to 45
6. 6
   Payment and keysBalance, purchase tax within 60 days, Tabu registration.2 to 6 months

Three differences from a purchase in the US, the UK, Canada or Australia shape everything else. There is no notary, no title company and no conveyancer in the English sense: each side has its own lawyer, and yours runs the title checks, drafts or negotiates the contract, files the tax and registers you as owner. An Israeli "notary" exists, but only to certify signatures and translations. Commitment comes early: a one-page handwritten memorandum can be a contract. The land registry is public and online: the Tabu gives, within minutes, the owner’s name, mortgages and registered rights, which makes the checks fast if the lawyer knows where to look. There is no "exchange and completion" gap as in England, and no 30-day escrow period as in the US: the contract itself sets the payment schedule and the delivery date.

1. Search, viewing and offer

Who: you, alone or with an agent; your mortgage broker for the pre-approval. Timeline: 2 to 8 weeks. Cost: nothing at this stage; the agent is paid at signing (2% + VAT, often negotiable to 1-1.5%).

Before the first viewing, set the total budget, not the price: add 5 to 12% in costs depending on your status (see every fee, explained), including the purchase tax, which runs from 0% for a resident buying their only home to 8% for a non-resident. If you are borrowing, get an ishur ekroni (pre-approval) before negotiating: it is free, valid for 24 days and renewable, and it keeps you from committing to a property the bank will not finance. The minimum deposit by status is set out in how much deposit do I need.

In Israel, listings show the gross area: walls, balcony and a share of the common areas included. Expect 15 to 20% less in usable floor area than the figure advertised (see gross vs net square meters), so a "100 m²" apartment is closer to 850 to 900 sq ft of living space than to 1,076. Compare prices per m² on the same gross basis, and ask for the number of rooms: Israelis count the living room, so a "4-room" apartment has three bedrooms.

The offer is made orally or in writing, through the agent. The seller accepts, declines or counters. Until something is signed, either side can walk away. It is the last step with no legal consequences.

For prices by city and neighbourhood, see Jerusalem and Netanya, two of the first destinations for English-speaking buyers.

2. The zikaron dvarim: a memorandum that already binds you

Who: both parties, ideally with their lawyers present. Timeline: the day of the agreement. Cost: included in the lawyer’s fee. Pitfall: signing it without a lawyer.

The zikaron dvarim (literally "memorandum of things") is a one-page memorandum that sets out the parties, the property, the price, the delivery date and sometimes a token deposit. Many agents produce one the same day to "lock in" the property. The problem: under Israeli law, a signed document that contains those elements is a sale contract. Whoever withdraws afterwards is exposed to damages, and sometimes to specific performance. The document also starts the tax clock: the date of the zikaron dvarim can be treated as the purchase date for the purchase tax (mas rechisha).

Two clean ways to handle it. Either your lawyer reviews and completes the zikaron dvarim before signing, adding a condition precedent (results of the checks, mortgage approval) and capping the deposit. Or you replace it with an explicitly non-binding letter of intent that reserves the property for a few days while the lawyer checks. A serious seller accepts either.

3. The lawyer’s checks

Who: your lawyer. Timeline: 1 to 3 weeks. Cost: included in the fee (0.5 to 1% of the price + 18% VAT, often with a minimum of ₪8,000 to ₪12,000). Pitfall: accepting the seller’s or the agent’s lawyer "to speed things up".

This is the stage that replaces the title search, title insurance and conveyancing searches you know from home, in a shorter form. The lawyer first pulls the nesach Tabu (extract from the land registry) and reads: who owns the property and under what title, whether there are mortgages, liens, easements, hearat azhara (caution notes registered by a previous buyer or a bank), and whether the parcel has been subdivided into individual units. If the property is not at the Tabu but at the Minhal (Israel Land Authority, state land on a long lease) or with a housing company (hevra meshakenet), the checks go through those bodies and take longer.

• Planning: do the building permit and the zoning plan (taba) match what is being sold? A closed-in balcony, a room on the roof or a converted basement without a permit are common and can carry a demolition order.
• Debts: arnona (municipal property tax), water, vaad bayit (building-committee fees), and on Minhal land, the fees owed to the state.
• Seller’s tax: the lawyer makes sure the seller will obtain their exemption or payment certificate for mas shevach (capital gains tax); without it, the transfer at the Tabu is blocked.
• Condition of the property: the lawyer does not check it. A home inspection (bedek bayit, ₪1,500 to ₪3,000) is your business, and it is worth the money on a resale.

For a buyer abroad, this is also when the lawyer prepares the power of attorney that will let them sign in your place. The checks vary from city to city: Church land and Minhal leases in Jerusalem, TAMA 38 and new-build in Tel Aviv.

4. The mortgage (mashkanta), in parallel

Who: you, the bank, possibly a broker (yoets mashkanta). Timeline: 2 to 4 weeks for a resident, 4 to 8 for a non-resident. Cost: broker ₪6,000 to ₪15,000 or 0.5 to 1% of the loan; appraisal ₪600 to ₪1,500; bank file-opening fee ≈ 0.25% of the loan, negotiable.

The mashkanta (mortgage) is arranged while the lawyer checks, and the sale contract is signed only with the pre-approval in hand. The Bank of Israel caps financing at 75% for a resident’s first home, 70% for a replacement home, 50% for an investor, and the banks apply 50% to non-residents, 70-75% if they are Israeli citizens or making aliyah within two years (the conditions are detailed in mortgage for new olim). At least one third of the loan must be at a fixed rate. The prime rate is 4.75% in November 2026. There is no 30-year fixed at a single rate as in the US: an Israeli loan is a mix of tracks, and the variable share is the norm.

After the contract, the bank appoints a shamai (licensed appraiser) and lends on the lower of the price and the appraisal. It requires life insurance and building insurance, then wires the funds directly to the seller on the contract schedule. In exchange it registers a mortgage or a caution note in its favour at the Tabu. Details and rates in the Israeli mortgage guide, and for a buyer abroad in mortgages for non-residents. To price a monthly payment: the mortgage calculator.

5. The heskem mechira: sale contract, deposit, caution note

Who: the two lawyers draft and negotiate, the parties sign. Timeline: 2 to 5 weeks after the memorandum. Cost: 10 to 20% of the price as deposit; the agent’s fee falls due at signing. Pitfall: a payment schedule that does not match the bank’s funding dates.

The heskem mechira (sale contract) runs 15 to 30 pages. It sets the price, the payment schedule, the handover date, late penalties on both sides (often 0.5% of the price per week, or a daily flat amount), what is included (air conditioners, kitchen, closets), the condition at handover and the split of taxes. The seller’s lawyer usually drafts the first version; yours corrects it. One point to insist on: interim payments must go to an escrow account (neemanut) or against a guarantee, as long as the seller has not discharged their mortgages.

In the days after signing, your lawyer registers a hearat azhara (caution note) in your name at the Tabu. This note bars the seller from selling to anyone else or mortgaging the property without your consent. It is your main protection until title passes, and it is why the deposit must never be paid before the note is registered or secured.

6. Payments, purchase tax, handover of keys, registration at the Tabu

Who: you (or the bank for the financed share), the two lawyers. Timeline: 1 to 4 months after the contract on a resale; according to construction progress off-plan. Cost: the balance of the price, the purchase tax, ₪2,000 to ₪6,000 in registration fees, translations and power of attorney for a buyer abroad.

1. Interim payments. On the schedule: for example 15% at signing, 35% at 45 days, the balance at handover. The bank’s funds go straight to the seller. Wires from abroad pass the anti-money-laundering filter: every sum must have a documented source.
2. Purchase tax (mas rechisha). Return filed by the lawyer within 30 days, payment within 60. The payment certificate (ishur mas rechisha) is required for the final registration. Full brackets on the mas rechisha 2026 page.
3. Seller’s certificates. Capital gains tax paid or exempted, arnona and water up to date, vaad bayit settled, mortgage discharged (a mikhtav kavanot from their bank stating the exact payoff amount).
4. Handover of keys. Against the final payment: walk-through, meter readings, keys and parking remotes handed over. The property is yours in practice.
5. Registration at the Tabu. The lawyer lodges the deed of transfer (shtar mecher) with all the certificates. The registry records ownership in your name, and your bank’s mortgage if you borrowed. Timeline: a few weeks to several months, longer at the Minhal or with a housing company.

Off-plan (see buying off-plan from a developer), stage 6 stretches over the whole build: instalments indexed to the madad tshumot habniya (construction cost index), a bank guarantee or Sale Law insurance on each instalment, then delivery, snagging list, and registration at the Tabu often 1 to 3 years after the keys, once the parcel has been subdivided.

Who pays what

Each line in detail, with a full budget for three prices and two statuses, is in what buying really costs.

Sample calendar: a resale apartment, an off-plan apartment

Resale: 3 rooms in Netanya, ₪2,100,000

• Week 0Viewing, offer accepted. Non-binding letter of intent signed, lawyer instructed the same day.
• Weeks 1 to 2Nesach Tabu, permit and debt checks, pre-approval requested from two banks through a broker.
• Week 3Draft contracts exchanged between lawyers, bank pre-approval obtained for ₪1,050,000 (50%, non-resident buyer).
• Week 4Heskem mechira signed, 15% deposit (₪315,000) into escrow, caution note registered 48 hours later.
• Weeks 5 to 8Appraisal, final bank offer, insurance, loan documents signed at the Israeli consulate. Purchase tax return filed (₪168,000 to pay before week 12).
• Week 10Second payment of 35% wired from abroad, after source-of-funds checks.
• Week 14Bank funds released, balance paid, keys handed to the lawyer under power of attorney.
• Months 5 to 7Transfer and mortgage registered at the Tabu.

Off-plan: 4 rooms in Jerusalem, ₪3,400,000, contractual delivery at 30 months

• Month 0Reservation, review of the developer’s contract by your lawyer (the developer has its own, whose fee is billed to you, capped at ≈ ₪5,500 + VAT).
• Month 1Signing, first instalment of 20% (₪680,000) against a Sale Law bank guarantee. Purchase tax return within 30 days, payment within 60.
• Months 2 to 30Either a schedule by construction milestone (foundations, structure, roof…) or 20/80: nothing to pay until delivery. The balance is indexed to the madad tshumot habniya, about 2 to 4% a year in recent years.
• Months 24 to 30Mortgage arranged on the balance; the bank lends on the value at completion.
• Months 30 to 42Delivery, often 6 to 12 months late; penalties owed by the developer from 60 days past the contractual date. Snagging report, warranty year (shnat bedek).
• Years 4 to 6Subdivision of the parcel (parcelation) then registration of your apartment at the Tabu.

The pitfalls, step by step

• Signing a zikaron dvarim "to reserve" without a lawyer. The most expensive and most frequent mistake among foreign buyers.
• Using the lawyer recommended by the seller or the agent. They cannot represent both sides. An independent lawyer costs the same; the criteria are in how to choose your real estate lawyer.
• Signing the contract before the bank pre-approval. Late-payment penalties kick in immediately and the seller has no reason to wait.
• A payment schedule faster than the bank. An interim payment at 30 days when the bank funds at 45: you pay the penalty.
• Forgetting the tax in the cash plan. 60 days after signing, not at handover.
• Underestimating currency moves. Between the agreement and the balance, the dollar or the pound can move 3 to 5% against the shekel. Currency brokers let you lock a forward rate.
• Buying gross area thinking it is living area. 100 m² advertised, 80 to 85 m² on the floor.
• Ignoring the registry. A property at the Minhal or with a housing company transfers more slowly and sometimes with fees; a property not yet subdivided (no individual Tabu entry) needs extra guarantees.

For the tax that follows the purchase (rental income, capital gains, reporting in your home country, FBAR and Form 8938 for US persons), see Shekel Guide, our site on money and taxes in Israel.

Frequently asked questions

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