San Francisco-On-The-Hadas

Hadas is the name of the only "river" near my beloved city of Kever Benjamin. Hadas is a winter stream that flows from the pond behind the Ushiland Shopping Center (pic), receives the treated wastewater of the Kfar Saba WWTP and flows on to feed the Yarkon River.

The only thing common to San Francisco and my place is the rejection of development: the Municipality will invent the most bizarre reasons why no new buildings may be built nor apartments added to the existing ones. The recently elected major "froze" two important projects in the downtown that already had their permits, and wove that no new developments - approved or not - will pass. The obvious result of this policy is an immediate jump in real estate prices. As owner, it benefits me, but on the other hand, I would love my daughters buying and settling near. Prices are not yet at the infamous San Francisco range (after all, this is a town bordering with knife-wielding savages), where hi-tech millionaires can only afford a mobile home, but we are not far.

Frightened by the financial media talk about recession and crash, I had been looking for investable real estate nearby, and a 4-room 40-years old apartment costs about 700,000 dollars. And going up fast.

I am wondering if current prices are... cheap. Maybe I should take a 25 year mortgage and buy. The bank doesn't care that my probabilities of being alive in 2044 are nil, they would love to lend me the money, just ask dear J.