What You Need to Know About Selling Your Tel Aviv Apartment: Part 4

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Get ready to close the deal.

Your agent should have you prepared ahead of time with all the steps involved in the sale. Legal documents of your home should be prepared by your attorney, such as the ‘Tabbu’ form which is the legal registration form of your home.

The Tabbu form will include important details regarding your home including its’ registered size, which in many cases, serious potential buyers would want to have a look at or it, or at least look at the Arnona form, which is the registration of your home with the Tel Aviv municipality. You’ll might encounter a difference between the sizes determined by the Tabbu to the actual size of your home; do not worry, this is very common in Tel Aviv especially in older neighborhoods and in older buildings. As a form of accuracy, you might want to consider hiring a surveyor to properly measure the home.

I strongly advise that you hire a professional real estate attorney to prepare all necessary legal documents for you from start. Once final stages of the sale are in motion, your attorney will be contacted by the buyer’s attorney and drafts of the contract will be exchanged between the two. If all goes well, then the legal process should be short. Ideally, all documentation should be reviewed and accounted for well before the closing time, so when the meeting is adjourned it shouldn’t last for more than two hours.

Any complications regarding legal process will cause a delay, and deals can go south in the final steps. Do not let it take you. In order to avoid such incidents, make sure your attorney is well prepared and that your attorney has reviewed ALL legal documents ahead of time so you won’t be taken off by surprise.

The closing is usually held at your (the seller’s) attorney’s office with you, the buyer, the buyer’s attorney and your agent(s) present. Generally, upon signing the contract only a certain percentage of the selling price is put down as a down payment. Depending on what both attorneys agree upon, it ranges between 20% – 30%, where the remaining amount is then split into 2-3 payments over a course of 3–6 months, depending on the payment time-line agreed by both parties. It is when the contract is signed and sealed, that should you pay your agent and your attorney their fee.

On the date of the final payment, both you and the buyer (or your attorneys alone – depending on what you agree on) will be meeting once again in order to officially hand over the home. The possession of the home will be officially registered under your buyer’s name once all payments have been made and keys handed over.

Mazal Tov and congratulations on the sale!

If you’re ready to sell your Tel Aviv apartment or just have questions about the process, feel free to talk to us today. We will be happy to set up a non-binding consultation with you in which you will be able to form an impression of the range of services and advantages offered by us.