Published March 10, 2017 by Chaim Friedman

February 21: Application received.

The first thing I did was review the contract. The funds were needed on March 1 and there was only a 7 day grace period!

I immediately called the client and told him my feelings regarding the timeframe. “We had a disagreement with the seller which held things up. Do your best”, he said. “We must try and get it done by March 8”.

There was still no appraisal done and on a 5,650,000 NIS property appraisals can take 1-2 weeks.

A watch: Time was ticking on this mortgage application

February 22: Our team got to work the next day as soon as the banks opened. The file was submitted to three banks for approval and interest rate quotes.

Appraisal issue still lingering

February 26: The final, negotiated approval was in hand:
70% of the loan @ 6 year fixed unlinked at 2.99% and 30% @ 25 year Prime-0.5% (1.1%). Effective interest rate: 2.4%

February 27: The clients signed on the mortgage file at the bank. However, the appraisal issue was still lingering.

In hopes of finding a creative solution we found that an appraiser (who was not on the bank’s approved list!) had done an appraisal on the apartment next door in the same building.

We requested that the bank consider allowing this appraiser to provide an appraisal in the interest of saving time being as he already knew the building and had all the required documentation.

Funds wired to the sellers

February 28: Lien documents delivered to the sellers in Tel Aviv for signature.

March 1: Appraisal received.

March 2: Appraisal approved by the bank.

March 6: Lien documents received back from the sellers allowing us to record the lien in the title office. Title rejects the lien request due to a technical issue with the documents.

March 7: New documentation provided to the sellers and re-signed. Lien is recorded in the title office. Remainder of the documentation completed and file was sent out to be reviewed at the bank’s audit department in Tel Aviv.

March 8: The file was reviewed and came back without any conditions and the funds were wired to the sellers!

In short: 16 days from start to finish @ 2.4%.

B”H a good way to go into Purim.

See: Current interest rates in Israel and utilise the First Israel Mortgage Calculator.