Tamar

So you will be the Tamar living in Tamar?

A lifelong dream of the husband to live in the Gush, and a hesitant wife who as a teenager once looked at this hilltop with caravans and said in her head, "one day, I will live there." Go figure.

Dreams do come true.

The unfortunate reality of buying now in Israel is that the prices jumped significantly within a year and a half. Prices in central areas of Israel that used to be in the 2.5 to 3 million shekel range, skyrocketed to 4 million plus. For example, about a year and a half ago, we put in an offer on a side-by-side house in the Dagan neighborhood of Efrat. Both parties received the contract, and then the sellers backed out. At the time, the cost for 180 square meters was about 3.1. This was considered still high at the time. 

In September of 2022, we saw repeated ads for a new, modern, clean, 4-bedroom apartment in the Tamar community, on a central street asking 3.3 million. We negotiated with the desperate sellers and made demands that aren't generally done in the country (such as asking them to keep all the appliances in the unit, painting before we move in, and making sure the place is in a clean, move-in ready condition). Buying in Israel is true, as they say, a shidduch. It was our 5th offer on a property and we were in a daze as we sat in the law firm signing the papers.

We visited the Tamar neighborhood more officially for Shabbat two weeks ago. We were pleasantly stunned by the number of children and couples our age. Whereas in Carmei Gat, which we liked very much but had slight concerns about, this community in Efrat hit the nail on the head.

The community grew in the last two years since we saw a house on Moriah street (wanted to put in an offer, but discovered that someone right before us did). In any case, that street now how several Ganim and a supermarket. It was almost barely recognizable. The apartment building complex that was being advertised when we first made aliyah was completed and looking back, we wondered why we did not simply purchase there at the time. We would have saved much more than the amount we put in...

In any case, we stayed with a family that isn't moving out of the neighborhood anytime soon. The wife I have known since I was about 9 years old. Hearing her call me Tamarush is the most endearing memory of my past and comforting to know that I will have someone nearby. We also had kiddush with friends of friends. We checked out the Merkazi shul and also Shirat Hatamar. Both will have their own dedicated buildings (the Merkazi shul is in the process of being built). There are many schools in the area and options.

The move is bittersweet. We will have to downsize a shtickle. Our son has a fantastic group of friends. And our daughter has two best friends. We've been comfortable with the streets, and our surroundings, and made good friends for ourselves as well. But the prices in Beit Shemesh range for an old apartment at 3.5 million shekel, if not perhaps in the 3's range. And houses are now 4 million and up. The most recent house went on the market for 6.7. These prices were not the case pre-Covid.