Making Aliyah with five children aged 7-17 had its rewards and challenges. We moved from Chicago and my husband David was working hard on getting his medical license to work as a doctor in Israel. I took responsibility for finding housing for our family, and there were many ups and downs. We started out renting a villa in Maale Adumim for the first few years, but the property owners were less than pleasant to deal with, so we finally decided to purchase our own home in Israel.
I knew very little about Israeli real estate. I relied on real estate agents for pricing, referrals, and home choices. We bought a home and we were so excited to renovate it. However, soon after we signed, I was diagnosed with a very serious, life-threatening illness. Everything changed overnight. Renovating a home was no longer practical. Instead, I moved into the hospital for a year. We realized we needed to sell our new home quickly, even though we had never lived in it.
At that point I hired a realtor, but she guided me in such a way that made me distrust her motives. I wondered whether she had her own pocket or my best interests in mind? In the end, we sold our new property for less than we had paid for it, because I was too sick to argue. A week later, another realtor told me that he had a client who would have paid more, but because of the realtor I had hired, he was not able to bring his client to see my house.
I honestly felt that I had been taken advantage of. None of the realtors I spoke with cared enough about me, despite my terrible circumstances, to give me peace of mind and a fair outcome. A year later, after I started to recover, I told David that, as soon as I had regained my strength, I would learn the field and get my own license as a real estate agent.
I wanted to be able to help others to find their home in Israel in the way that I wanted someone to take care of us. I wanted to put the client first! My goal today as a realtor is to always provide peace of mind to purchasers, every step of the way, and even beyond the signing of the contract. I started working with a few clients who I met randomly, but I soon became very busy as my reputation spread through word of mouth.
My mission in life has always been to help others. That’s why I started out as a pediatric occupational therapist for the first 25 years of my career, and also why I spend my “downtime” as a volunteer matchmaker. My greatest satisfaction in life comes from making others feel happy. As an Israeli real estate agent, Shalom Buy It allows me to make entire families happy through the purchase of their dream home in Israel, by providing an end-to-end purchasing experience characterized by complete peace of mind.
Many of my clients hire me from overseas and sign contracts remotely – they trust me to select, view and show them the properties that are right for them. I work with many other Israel realtors, mortgage brokers, lawyers, contractors, and interior designers, choosing only those whom I trust to give my clients a complete peace of mind experience, as an extension of my own commitment.
I love to stay in contact with my clients’ after they purchase their home in Israel, and I often continue to serve them as a resource in the community and by networking with others to help them get settled; whether it is looking for a good store, or helping them to find work. When you work with me, you will discover that my heart is in the right place. My goal is for each of my clients to find a beautiful home in Israel that fits their family’s needs, and to help them to fill it with Simcha (happiness) and “Shalom Bayit”, which translates as peace in your home!