Extra costs in purchasing a home in Israel
Unlike in the United States, where the seller usually pays the real estate agent around five percent of the selling price, in Israel it is customary for the buyer to pay the Real Estate Agent a two percent commission. Add to that the Value Added Tax (VAT) which is 15.5% on top of the commission. In addition to VAT, there is also a Purchase Tax on property.
To read about these considerations, plus more when buying a property in Israel, check out a brief article at the Arutz Sheva website, written by Jerusalem Real Estate Agent, Baruch Finkelstein
