Seller scenario
Selling an Israeli property while living abroad
Owners sell Haifa apartments from New York, London and Paris every month — the process is established, and distance is a logistics question, not an obstacle. Three things replace your presence: the right power of attorney, a tax certificate ordered early, and one person on the ground who documents everything.
The power of attorney — how it actually works
Your Israeli lawyer drafts the power of attorney; the missions authenticate signatures but do not draft legal documents. With the document ready, you book an appointment at the nearest Israeli mission (the consular service covers Israeli citizens, and foreign citizens signing documents intended for use in Israel), sign before the consular officer, and the authenticated copy goes back to your lawyer. Where reaching a mission is impractical, your lawyer will instruct the alternative that works in your country — that is a legal call that depends on the state and the document.
Settle the power-of-attorney question at the very start: it sets the timetable for everything else. Source: notarial and consular services at Israeli missions — Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hebrew).
The tax certificate to start today
Israel's single-home capital-gains exemption is open to a foreign resident who owns no residential apartment in their country of residence. The statute is explicit about the proof: you are treated as owning such an apartment until you produce a certificate from your country's tax authority confirming you do not (Real Estate Taxation Law, section 49A(a)). The Tax Authority's own guidance adds that an affidavit is not a substitute — only the foreign tax authority's certificate counts.
The seller's declaration in Israel is due within 30 days of the sale; obtaining a certificate from a foreign tax authority can take months. Start when the property goes on the market, not when a buyer appears. Whether the exemption applies to your case at all — and whether another route serves you better — is a question for an Israeli tax adviser, with your documents on the table.
Eyes on the ground
An absent owner's apartment is either empty or tenanted — and in both cases someone has to open the door, keep it presentable, and represent it properly. We film and photograph the property once, to the standard we use for our own listings, run the viewings, and send a written report after each one: who came, what was said, what we suggest next. Decisions are taken on your written confirmation only, in one channel — so the record is complete and the time difference works for you rather than against you.
The team a remote sale needs is small and specific: an Israeli real-estate lawyer used to working with owners abroad, a tax adviser where residency or exemptions are in play, and a broker who runs the ground. Assembling and coordinating that team is part of what we do.
Frequently asked
Do I have to come to Israel to sell my apartment?
Most of the process can be handled remotely. Your Israeli lawyer drafts a power of attorney; your signature on it is authenticated at an Israeli mission abroad (or in another form your lawyer instructs), and from that point the transaction can proceed without you flying in. Whether anything requires your presence is your lawyer’s call on the specific deal.
Can a non-resident get the Israeli capital-gains exemption?
The residential-apartment exemption is open to a foreign resident who has no residential apartment in the country where they live — and the statute itself (section 49A(a)) says you are treated as owning one until you produce a certificate from that country’s tax authority confirming you do not. Getting that certificate can take months, so it is the first thing to start.
How will I know what is happening with my property?
You should expect a written update after every viewing and every development, in one agreed channel, with decisions taken only on your written word. Time zones stop mattering when the process is documented: you read in your morning what happened in our evening.
What deadlines apply after signing?
The seller’s declaration to the Israel Tax Authority is due within 30 days of the sale, and payment of the assessed tax within 60 days. Those clocks are the reason the paperwork — power of attorney, tax certificate, documents — is prepared before a buyer is found, not after.
Selling an inherited Israeli property from abroad adds one more layer — the inheritance order. That case has its own page.