Zichron Yaacov -- Vacation Apartments

Many families in Israel have an additional apartment that is used by family and friends as a vacation apartment. These can be separated in to two groups - Time share apartments, of these they get one week vacation per year (with sometimes the possibility to expand that to an additional time) and apartments that there is full ownership and that can be used all year round and for any occasion.

About Vacation Apartments

In Zichron Yaacov there are two apartment/hotels where one could get a vacation apartment; Havat HaBaron and Shirat Hayam (next to the Eden Inn hotel). Both hotels are owned and run by the Hartan Hotels and Resort chain, which is part of the properties conference and recently sold the maintenance of "the Sportan" of Zichron Yaacov to the local municipality for running. In Caesarea   one vacation apartments can be found I the Neot Golf Hotel.

Vacation apartments - worthwhile?

The advantages to owning a vacation home are many; a place to take family or friends for a short weekend getaway or longer, with no warning, no need to make reservations and it's a much lower cost than a vacation in a hotel. Even the smaller of vacation apartments are more spacious that a hotel room, and of course you can store all your personal items (comfortable bed, stereo systems, etc.), the availability to just jump in the car without a lot of packing and just last minute planning  to be at what Americans like to call a "home away from home". Want to get away from home for a longer period? If you own your apartment, you can move in and live there at any point. The public areas (the lobby, pool, fields, hallways, elevators...) are maintained in accordance with the management company.  Owners have use of the amenities of the nearby hotel (pool, Jacuzzi, sports fields, lawns etc...) at no cost. For an additional fee you can order extra services offered by the hotel (restaurant, spa, room service, cleaning and linen changes, and more). When the apartment is not in use it can be rented out to others for short vacations, and to reduce maintenance costs or as an added income. In general you can release your apartment in the pool of rooms the hotels uses and share the profits (as such or another way which can differ from location to location) with the hotel management.

Not just advantages

There are also disadvantages that should be taken into account. After a bunch of years, you may not want to keep returning to the same place for vacation. Maintenance fees still must be paid even during the periods when the apartment is not in use. In Havat HaBaron the maintenance fee for an apartment with two small rooms is approximately $100 a month. In Shirat Hayam ad Neot Golf the maintenance fees are even higher. The standard of maintenance of the hotel depends on which maintenance company is used, and if it is not excellent this immediately will reflect on how the location looks and how it will be run. In the city building plan in these Hotel locations the apartments are classified as "hotel keeping and recreation" and not "residence" and as such the Arnona is 50% higher than the Arnona on a regular residence. Mas Rechisha" (Purchase Tax) Authority may question the qualification for a lower tax bracket of the vacation apartment as being a "qualifying residential apartment" and the "Mas Shevach" (Capital Gain Tax) Authority may make receiving the tax waiver typically granted on the sale of a "qualifying residential apartment" once every four years. There are additional issues specific to vacation apartments these have to do with, sales tax and VAT compensation

Prices

Prices for apartment in Shirat Hayam start at approximately $40,000 for a studio apartment, and approximately $60,000 for a two room apartment. In Havat HaBaron you will find two room apartments starting at the $70,000 range. The few 3 room apartments available are priced in the $100,000 range and up. . In Neot Golf you will find two room apartments starting at $100,000. At each of these locations there are 5-10 apartments for sale at any given time. In all the locations these prices are seen as a real bargain, sometimes to the extent of a 60% reduced rate, despite the price paid by the original owners when they were sold in the 90's "On Paper"