For
almost 8 years, Ramat Beit Shemesh has been my home. In that time the city has
grown and changed a lot. Often for the better and sometimes, not so much. As
much as I have enjoyed living here, it has been clear that our family needs a
fresh start.
For over
a year, Peri and I have been actively searching for the best place for our
family. Our first choice was a community with a very limited rental
market. That left us open to also considering some of the surrounding
neighbourhoods. We had a back up plan in case we could not find suitable
home.
For the
past month we have been making multiple trips checking out apartments. A lot of
the apartments were too small, re-emphasizing how lucky we are to be in a large
apartment, even by the standards of this neighbourhood.
One
apartment I have started referring to as the Mafia building. The apartment was
gorgeous. The 18 page lease was filled with clauses keeping the owner in full
control of the apartment even though it was being rented. We negotiated most of
them out of the lease. The clause that we should pay the structural insurance
on the entire building as the deal breaker. We didn't even go as far as him
wanting to have the insurance (including content insurance) to be with his
insurance company with his name on the policy. We decided not to enter a
lease with an over-controlling, abusive owner.
Another
one was a nice sized apartment that was not finished being built. It didn't
have a bathtub or electricity. They hadn't applied for the Tofes 4 (building
completion certificate) and it wasn't certain the electricity could be turned
on before the move in date. The owners want to sell and were looking at renting
as a possibility to eventually initiate a sale. The biggest selling point was
the illegally built and walled in 120m of living space that could be opened up,
upon purchase. In the end, there were too many variables in the air and it also
fell through.
Yesterday,
morning we signed a lease for our apartment in Kiryat Shumel. It is located in
the flat part of Haifa, north of the city. The building is only 3 years old.
One of the things that really impressed us, was how well thought out the
apartment and the building was. It is going to be a great place for our family
to get a fresh start.
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| The keys to our future, without shlissel challah. |
Every
time I have been to Kiryat Shmuel I have fallen more and more in love with the
community. I do have some fears about leaving the comforts of a community that has
been really supportive over the years and ongoing. We need to be able to step
outside of our comfort zones, if we want to grow and become better people. This
move gives every single member of my family the best opportunity to grow and be
the best that they can be. A fresh start is really exciting.
