When we thought of buying a garden apartment in Sheinfeld (Givat Sharret), we naturally went to Tova and Gavriel Weinberg of HaGefen Realty. They are local to that area, and have many years of experience in handling properties.

They brought us only to apartments that met our needs and interests, and were really sincere in trying to address our needs. In Israel, where realtors usually represent both the buyer and seller, we feel that Hagefen Realty was fair, honest, professional and balanced in serving the interests of both the buyer and seller (to the degree that it is possible).

Tova and Gavriel not only helped us to find a great new home at a very good price, they gave us valuable advice throughout and after the purchase. We thank them for their services and are happy to have joined their neighborhood.

We recommend Tova, Gavriel and HaGefen Realty for all your real estate needs.

–A. and Y.G.

We would like to highly recommend the services of Gavriel and Tova Weinberg of HaGefen Realty. When we needed to lease out our apartment starting this summer, we met with several realtors. We decided to book the services exclusively of HaGefen Realty, on the recommendation of somebody else who used them recently for a rental.

At first we hesitated to do an exclusive with any one agent, after having a bad experience with a different exclusive realtor listing. However we made a good choice working with Gavriel and Tova of HaGefen. They explained how they worked, and we saw that they were professional and sincere.

We booked their services 6 months before we needed to move. In less than 2 months they succeeded in finding us excellent tenants. They did not waste our time bringing unsuitable candidates. Already before bringing people to see our apartment, they screened the candidates to see if it was worthwhile or not for them to come. This way we did not have to bring in numerous different realtors and have many private individuals coming into our home.

HaGefen Realty lived up to everything they said. They were professional, hard working, and a boutique real estate company. They
found us reliable tenants in a short amount of time. They treated our home as if it was their own home.

Tova and Gavriel really personally cared to find the right tenant to
match our needs.

–N. and O. Y., Germany to Israel

We are moving from London to Israel and bought our apartment in the Sheinfeld neighborhood through HaGefen Realty owned by Gavriel and Tova Weinberg.

Tova Weinberg is project managing the complete renovation of the apartment for us as we are not moving until November. I made a two week visit to Israel last month to discuss the renovation thoroughly with Tova and spent the time choosing fixtures and fittings and putting contractors/kitchen design In place. I am back in the UK now with complete peace of mind knowing Tova is taking care of the renovation.

Tova’s own input with interior design ideas has proven invaluable. She has a natural talent and she aims to please.

–Hannah Morhaim

Our experience of dealing with Tova and Gavriel Weinberg of HaGefen Realty has been unique. From the outset their service has been very efficient as to the purchase and smooth exchange of contracts. Tova helped us find a home in the Sheinfeld neighborhood of Beit Shemesh for our upcoming Aliyah.  We found Tova to be a dedicated individual who loves what she does and aims to please.

Tova has incredible intuition about her clients’ needs and makes positive suggestions that the client would not necessarily have thought about. This is invaluable when buying from abroad. As our apartment is to be refurbished we have hired Tova to find a suitable and trustworthy contractor as well as an architect and kitchen carpenter to do the work.

In a single day’s visit Tova organised for us to see similarly refurbished apartments; meet with kitchen planners, a contractor, and an architect. I felt I could go back to the UK leaving our ‘affairs’ in capable hands. Tova is now managing the renovation, keeping my husband and I informed every step of the way.

Having reached this stage of our buying a place in Israel we can confidently say that we would highly recommend HaGefen Realty for honesty, quality of service and peace of mind.

H. and A.
London, UK

I would like to express my thanks to Tova and Gavriel Weinberg of HaGefen Realty for the successful construction project and rental that they completed for me recently. The job involved construction of a rental unit and it was supervised by Gavriel in a most professional manner. After the construction was completed their brief was to find a suitable renter for the property. Within a couple of days of the completion of the building I had a suitable renter.

I would strongly recommend this company as the managing personnel, and they are genuine business people.

I.G.
London, England

Given our family’s recent local experiences with rentals and purchases, I wanted to post what we’ve learned, as I think it could be helpful to others who are currently looking around.

1. Concerning house rentals, especially in the older areas of Bet Shemesh, you should realize that there is much more to a house than is on the surface.  Many corners have been cut in the building of some of these homes that are not part of development projects.  Therefore, you can’t just look on the surface of a potential rental.  We, for example, rented a home that – on paper – had everything we needed, but found all sorts of problems with electricity, plumbing, etc.  These are things you can’t possibly know about before you move in.  One idea is to try as hard as you can to find out who may have rented the home before you so you can ask questions and find out the full story.

2. Concerning the use of agents to sell or to buy, listen, we all want to make as much money (if we are the seller) or spend the least money (if we are the buyer/renter) as possible during this kind of process.  To that end, people sometimes try to find the right buyer or home without the use of an agent.  To me, this is a major mistake and fits quite comfortably into the category of “pennywise and pound foolish.”  Agents have the connections, experience and knowledge to find the right buyer or place for us.  Yes, it will cost you more, but the benefits are many.  But I have one caveat to this: Find an agent who really understands who you are and what you are looking for.  Make sure they take the time to learn about what your priorities are.  We just had a wonderful experience and can recommend without hesitation Har HaGefen Realty (Tova and Gavriel Weinberg).  They showed us about 15 houses (maybe more) in several areas over several months, and actually took the time to learn with us throughout the process what we really wanted.  They never said, “Maybe you are looking for the impossible dream of a house.”  They always believed we would find what we wanted.  Ultimately, they found us exactly the kind of house we were looking for.  We recommend them highly.

3. Concerning the use of a lawyer, Israelis love the concept of sharing the cost of a lawyer – in essence, having one lawyer represent both sides.  This concept will mean, at best, that the lawyer will represent neither side, as there is no such thing as truly representing the interests of both sides.  Hire a lawyer for your side only.  It will cost you more, but will save you much more in the long run.  There is nothing like the feeling of knowing that your lawyer is 100% in your corner, only protecting you.  To this point, we recommend highly Aryeh Rachlin (based in Jerusalem), who helped us through our purchasing process.  He was reasonably-priced and so amazingly responsive.

4. For those in Chu”L who are planning their Aliyah moves, realize that the change in the dollar-shekel ratio has significantly impacted the rental/purchase prices you will be seeing over the next few months.  I’m not sure what exactly is the correct move here, but you need to factor in the 30% drop in the ratio over the past six months.  A house that was rented out for $1000 a year ago may go for $1,300 or more now, and that’s before any discussion of the rise in property values in the BS/RBS area.  This is yet another reason why you want to work with an agent and a lawyer who are on your side.

G. J.
Sheinfeld Neighborhood, Beit Shemesh

Gavriel and Tova proactively identified a property they felt matched our family’s needs and contacted us about it. They guided us throughout the entire process from viewing to negotiation to finalization and beyond, including acting as a go-between when we needed to communicate with the sellers. Their help, persistence, professionalism and willingness to help ensured that everything happened as smoothly as possible, and I would definitely recommend them.