Buying or selling real estate in Israel can be a stressful experience in the best of situations. Here are some ways your real estate lawyer can take away the legal headaches.

1. Discover What You Need

Your lawyer should help you ask the right questions and get the answers you need. For instance, if you’re buying a second-hand apartment your lawyer will need to know when you want to take possession, what kind of payment terms would be best for you, how you are financing the purchase, what items you are asking the sellers to leave in the apartment, whether you have agreed on the price, if you are planning to make structural changes to the apartment and more.

2. Explain the Process

One of the greatest stress reducers is the ability to anticipate the future. Whether you are buying or selling a property, your real estate lawyer should explain the entire legal process to you in language that is easy to understand. The explanation should include details about the mortgage process such as how to freeze, transfer or lift your mortgage. You should also receive a list of expenses to include in your budget such as legal fees, purchase tax, and fees for the mortgage, registration, assessor, engineer and real estate agent where applicable.

3. Check Your Personal Legal Status

Your real estate attorney should ask you for confirmation of your legal status in Israel. Whether you are a foreign resident, new immigrant or Israeli citizen may affect your rights to a mortgage and to a partial exemption from purchase tax.

If you are selling an apartment your attorney should check your status with regard to capital gains tax. You need to know whether you are entitled to an exemption from capital gains tax and, if not, how much tax you may be required to pay. Your lawyer should also check how this transaction may impact any future real estate transactions you may already know about in terms of their tax liability.

4. Check the Property Status

Your real estate attorney should do a title search to verify the present ownership of the property and determine whether there are any outstanding mortgages, liens or other encumbrances. After checking all the relevant documentation in the title search your lawyer should be able to tell you if there are any issues that might impede the transaction in any way. Your lawyer should also check the issue of betterment tax and how it affects you.