When we left for Israel, our house in America was left with a renter who promised to take good care of my baby. In no way was I emotionally ready to sell the house I spent years designing, upgrading, fixing, installing, working in, and raising my kids in. (There is nothing wrong with ending a sentence in a preposition – it’s a made-up rule.) Maybe Israel wouldn’t work out and we’d have to return, though for me that wasn’t the main reason not to sell.

By the grace of the holy one blessed be He, on our four-day pilot trip to Israel we found and signed a contract to purchase a house that met 95% of what we were looking for and paid the asking price. (My wife and I saw a video walkthrough separately and separately salivated.)

The sale of my house in America will cover the purchase of my house in Israel, I thought. There’s no tax on the purchase, the person in Israel tells me. Well, taxes on both houses, not getting what I thought I’d get for the sale of the house, a leaking buried oil tank in my front yard … delays in closing … more money and more money … on top of that, the U.S. dollar plummeted against the shekel by the time we sold our house and I have an interest-only mortgage in Israel to pay off.

(Side tidbit: Non-Israelis can get loans for 50% of purchase price; Israelis can get loans for 75% of purchase price – our closing was a day after we landed to get the 75%).

Let’s just say if I knew how much it would cost to move, I don’t think I’d have done it (though I rationalized pretty well over here). If I knew the additional costs of ~~doing what you want~~ doing what your wife wants to change in the new house, probably also wouldn’t have done it. (She’ll say the underlying plumbing problems require it anyway – I told her I’m tired of her using facts to win arguments.)

The least expensive way to move to Israel as a homeowner

This was advice from an Israeli taxi driver: rent your house in America and use the rent money you receive to pay rent in Israel. The complexities and cost are far, far less than selling one house and buying another. I was cashflow positive on the rent coming in for the one house to pay towards the other … except there’s a downside.

When something breaks in your house, you’re responsible. Water heaters and leaky roofs aren’t cheap and are a headache that you’re dealing with from thousands of miles away. Some people like owning properties and collecting rent … I loathe it. I handle intellectual property because you make that stuff up in your head. Real property leaks oil into ground water, your insurance company wants you to cut back trees, property taxes always go up, and on and on. I’d rather own a large growth index ETF that has earned about 15% per year for the past 10 years and have time to calmly read a book.

Pretend each ball is a wad of cash. Pretend that hand reaching out for more is your house. That’s home ownership.

Homeownership is because you want a nice place to live that is your own and with the security of knowing it’s yours and you can do what you want with it. Houses are money pits. A better financial move is to rent a nice place with a landlord who takes care of things and put your money in the stock market.

Emotionally letting go

“You’re the happiest person in the world going into Shabbos” said the real estate agent when we closed, being almost Shabbos in Israel. Nah. That house was part of my identity, and the buyer nitpicks and demands were personal. Worse, they planned to spend a not small amount of money doing major work to the house. What? I put so much thought into the renovations and additions, and you don’t appreciate that?! I want my house to be treated with as much love as I gave it! It’s not a thing to tear apart and rebuild … again.

To which my wife says, “when I was back in town, I walked right by the house, looked at it, and felt nothing.” Maybe less than nothing.

When I went back in town, I avoided the house entirely so that I too could feel nothing when I didn’t see it.

Then I remember a story of a friend who purchased a house – the house was already sold, and his wife moved a potty ring from the toilet where an elderly woman did her business. The living daughter, selling the house, went over there and put that potty ring right back where it was.

Time to let the potty ring go. Stand up, be a man, and aim for the center.¹

Feeling homeless

Shabbos was just fine – disconnect from physical needs and wants. Then the next day … I felt homeless. My house in Israel – is it really mine? It’s a very nice house. It suits our needs so much better – it’s a real upgrade. Though Israel feels to me like a long-term vacation. Nice weather. I visit the gym, beach, museum, or read on the porch on a swing by day … yet I still own, manage, and/or write on message groups in my old community that I created when I moved there twenty years prior. Do I give those up now too?

While going through these feelings I get a text about something positive my daughter did in school. I feel better. The kids are doing so much better here.

Would I have moved to Israel knowing how much this would actually cost financially? No.
Am I happier here? Yes, much happier here.

Maybe when we do renovations on this next house, it will feel like my house.

The Entire Aliyah Diary

Beginning and End

01. Aug 19, 2024: Preparation In America
02. Aug 25, 2024: First Few Days
03. Aug 29, 2024: Moving In
62. July 17, 2025: I MADE IT
75. Sept 14, 2025: Leaving USA Behind

Cultural Adjustment Fun

Cultural Adjustment Difficulties

On The Roads

Shopping

11. Oct 13, 2024: Packages. (חבילות.)
34. Feb 17, 2025: Finding Obscure Things
41. Mar 23, 2025: New Shopping Habits
44. Apr 6, 2025: Pesach Shopping & Osher Ad

Special Locations

23. Dec 29, 2024: The West Bank. (Shomron)
50. May 18, 2025: Casearia
52. May 25, 2025: Flowers of Kfar Rut
85. Nov 9, 2025: Living Cemetery Museum
93. Dec 12, 2025: Port Yafo (Jaffa)

Government and Bureaucracy

Politics and Thought

Travel: Indoors / Museums

Travel: Outdoors (Except Hikes)

Travel: Hikes

Travel: From Israel to …

54. June 4, 2025: Marseille and Avignon
66. Aug 11, 2025: Return to America 1
67. Aug 14, 2025: Return to America 2
70. Aug 24, 2025: US Price Compare

Or, a Leslie Neilson joke: “Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes.” ↩︎