Renting an apartment

In America it is easy to get a place to live. You know the problems, you go down to Shadow Hills or some other place and you get your pad. It is just simple. Renting an apartment here is as complex as buying a house in America.

First you have to find a place, and frankly the fall is the worse time to find a place as most people move in the summers. Then you get the pleasure of paying one months rent to an agent plus VAT, 1/2 months rent to the other sides attorney, some sort of security deposit either a letter form or a bank guarantee for $3k, then you have to pay three months in advance. The total cash cost of moving in is around 7-8 months rent with only 3 months actually rent.

I must say that in America we have a credit reporting agency, I wish we had that in Israel, it is fairly easy in America to figure out how much someone can pay and to get them to pay. Here it is just messed up.

If you find a decent place at a decent price take a longer term lease as it is hard to move, and if you have to you can probably find replacement tenets.

Have a good day.

Benjamin