about life

#IzmahShavuot Shani Amram #post2

In December 2018, I landed in New York, without a suitcase that was lost on the way and with dreams in my pockets. The destination was the city of Wilmington in Delaware. Simply because there was a family of a family with whom I was staying. Straight into the snow, acclimatization and learning while walking began, after which I realized how simple things are. Wilmington is a sleepy city that is not bustling with commerce and industry like other big cities in America. Effortful networking did not lead to anything, and so it turned out that the legs were drawn to the closest metropolis that was, after all, the city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is colorful and diverse both in the character and differences of its neighborhoods and in the population it invites into it. Full of contrasts, multifaceted and cheeky. From here, things got a little clearer. 

First, in terms of understanding the area - in the United States almost all Israelis deal in real estate, some as a side occupation and some as a main occupation. The things are simple and accessible and it is not complicated to understand the process of creating the transaction. This means that as part of the local real estate discourse, you meet the entire spectrum of Israeli society. It makes things simpler and sometimes more challenging. Here, real estate is not done in law firms, but more in the field, in the neighborhoods. 

Second, although there are talented women in the real estate market, still the almost absolute majority that I have at least met is male. As a young woman who wants to integrate into business and give a head, you may find that the tendency of the other party will be at best to offer you to be a clerk in one or another office, at worst to be the children's babysitter. So do you hear? It's his. It has nothing to do with you, your skills or what you have done to get you this far. I remember myself walking the streets of the city with my headphones and listening over and over to Plotnik Kfara about him singing "There is a blessing on the way, a holy journey, walking in blind faith, creating a new reality".  

Third and perhaps most important, *networking*. I went to every social event of the Jewish community and Jewish organization that I heard about. I managed a dense excel in which I wrote down every man and woman I talked to, relevant details about them, contact details. I've done pullups, some of which have led to important connections and some of which have led to nothing. The importance of networking is fundamental, because in doing so we put ourselves out there with our dreams, let the universe connect and put together, meet new women, learn, train this muscle. I approached it with a lot of motivation and treated it as work, although it took me a while to recognize who was there to chat and who was there to share knowledge, teach and learn. 

After a few months, I found a job managing a real estate office that accompanied Israeli investors in purchasing houses in a specific area in Philadelphia, renovating them, renting them and managing them. Through the firm's clients, I have experienced the challenges of remote real estate management and the acute need for trusted people who will be the eyes and judgment in the field, and above all who will simply be on top of things. Indeed, my attitude towards the investors' houses was as if they were my own houses. I accompanied countless purchase, sale and refinance transactions. I knew brokers, contractors, bankers, etc., I possessed extensive knowledge and learned to make it accessible to the Israeli investor who in many cases has never come to see his property and has no idea about the regulation and the local culture. This gap sharpened during the Corona period when there were no eviction procedures at all and thus, many tenants began to take advantage of the situation and stopped paying rent. Here, creative solutions were required for both the tenant and the owner of the property residing in Israel. 

The crazy corona period taught me a critical lesson about investors - a lesson that to a large extent shaped the nature of my current practice today - I will expand on this in the next post.