One of the important parameters in choosing an area for purchasing an investment property is the existence of an educational institution and/or medical institution in the area since it is a large population that spends a significant part of the day in these institutions (employees in the medical institution and students in the educational institution) and they constitute a good and wide potential for tenants.

So, after buying my first property in the Krayot, I searched for a variety and tried to find another area for investment in order not to put all the eggs in one basket, and in my search, I came to Afula.

Yes, Afula, a city I have never been to, at least not on purpose, a city I never thought I would have anything there, but when I first got there I remembered that I passed there on my way to Kiryat Shmona and the Kineret. In terms of the parameters that are a must in choosing a potential investment place, I marked V on a large portion of them.

There is an educational institution, and even quite large (5000 students), Jezreel Valley College.

There is a hospital, Poria.

A developing city? Definitely.

Match the amount of investment I was looking for? Yes.

So why not?

I started reading about the area, went to the municipality's website, looked at a map, and set off.

I went to the apartment sale websites, marked potential apartments, walked around a lot on foot in the central areas of the city, met with five brokers, and saw dozens of apartments.

Two weeks after I started searching, I remember it was Friday, and that day I saw 2 apartments I wanted to buy, one was in Kiryat Bialik (I even remember it was on Hagana Street) and the other was at 53 Aliya Street in Afula.

I wanted to buy both apartments together, I really wanted to, but A. I did not have enough equity for both of them and B. was a little big on me at the time to buy two apartments together with only one real estate deal behind me and I had concerns about investing.

I remember that the potential of the apartment in Afula could even be identified from Hadera, 2nd floor, 3 rooms, 70 square meters, spacious and bright with a balcony and parking.

I do not remember what the asking price the broker sold me was (and you can be sure that they always add money to the amount the landlord asks for), but in the end, the price closed at NIS 370,000, and I had to add another NIS 10,000 to the broker plus VAT even though – 2% commission goes out less, significantly.

So I bought the apartment, rented it for a period of about 6 years for an amount ranging from 1900 NIS in the first years, and then it climbed to 2200 NIS (which comes out to a 6.2% return to 7.1% which is not bad at all).

Just so you understand, for buying the apartment I brought equity of only NIS 90,000!! And I took a mortgage of NIS 300,000 for a period of 30 years from the bank.

At the end of each month, after I have paid my monthly mortgage payment of between NIS 1,200-1,300, I have between NIS 700 and NIS 900 left in my pocket every month!!!!

So I had a property whose value went up, and the loan on it was paid from the rent, and I still made money every month!!

At the end of 2017, I sold the apartment for NIS 621,000 to an orthodox couple from Bnei Brak, about a year earlier, I had a thorough renovation of the apartment for NIS 31,000.

When I write thorough, without quotes, I mean really thorough, not cynically (because it can be implied from the low price I invested that not much can be done, you will be surprised), I replaced plumbing, flooring, doors, shower, toilet, shutters and parquet in the rooms.
The money I earned from the deal was about half the purchase price of the home I bought in Atlanta, USA.