Property types in Israel

Apartment (dirá – דירה)

A Dira is an apartment, flat, condo, or condominium unit of one floor in a shared residential building with shared spaces with other owners (such as a lobby, parking lot, garden, stairs, etc.).

Garden apartment (dirát gán – דירת גן)
A Dirat gan or garden flat is mostly a standard apartment, usually, on the first (ground) floor, with an attached fenced piece of land for exclusively personal use.

Duplex (דופלקס)
A Duplex is a standard apartment of 2 floors with internal stairs. The structure of such an apartment mainly depends on the first and the second floors of the unit. If the apartment is located on the ground and the first floor, it will probably have a garden. If the apartment is located on the last and second to last floor, it will probably have a large balcony.

Bonus: some duplexes have a separate entrance on the other floor, which gives the opportunity to rent it out or to share the apartments with parents or grown kids and still keep the privacy.

Triplex (טריפלקס)
A Triplex is the same as a duplex but with 3 floors.

Penthouse (פנטהאוס)
A Penthouse is a big apartment located on the top floor with a massive balcony. Such apartment is usually the size of 2 regular apartments in the building. Some of the penthouses are spread over the entire floor, whereas others share the floor with another penthouse. There are also two-floor penthouses (penthouse duplex) with several balconies.

Mini Penthouse (מיני פנטהאוס)
A Mini Penthouse is usually located on one of the top floors. It is greater than a standard apartment and has a big open balcony, generally more than 30 sq.m (322 sq.ft.)

Roof Apartment (dirát gág – דירת גג)
A Dirat Gag is an apartment that is located on the top floor, and has a private area on the roof that includes a room or two. Generally, there is access to the roof from the apartment (internal stairs), and/or access through the common building stairs.

Bonus: if the roof is accessible through the common stairs, it is possible to rent out the separate unit and enjoy a decent monthly income, which might cover half or even more of the mortgage payment.

Boutique Apartment (dirát boutíque – דירת בוטיק)
A Dirat Boutique, similar to the mini penthouse, is primarily a marketing term. Generally, dirat boutique is an apartment located in a building of 3 – 5 floors with one or two apartments per floor. Therefore each boutique apartment enjoys 3 – 4 air directions and more quiet and privacy.

Villa or cottage (או קוטג' וילה)
A Cottage is a free-standing house with a garden, with no shared walls. Usually, a larger and/or more luxurious cottage will be called a villa.

Attached House (du mishpachtí –דו משפחתי)
A Du Mishpachti is a private house that has one shared wall with the neighbor. Most of these houses share a vertical wall, so each one gets its own garden.

This type is the most common among the houses in Israel since you save space by sharing a wall, and therefore Du Mispachti will be cheaper than cottages or villas.

Lot (migrásh - מגרש)
A Migrash, as simple as it sounds, is a piece of land for self-construction. Each lot has a construction limit according to its size and location. Usually, small lots are intended for the construction of Du Mishpachti, while bigger lots allow the construction of a free-standing house.

Conclusion

If you are not buying a standard apartment (dira), but one of the “special” options, you better make sure you understand the terminology regarding that type of property. In any case, we highly recommend hiring a real estate lawyer to escort you during the purchase process.

P.S. Just in case you didn’t know, in Israel, the living room adds to the room count. That means that a 5 room apartment is actually made of 4 bedrooms plus the living room. Some enormous apartments or houses might even have 2 living rooms.

P.P.S If you are interested in purchasing an apartment or any other property type, BHII is at your service. Contact us, and we will help to find your new home in Israel.