Is it safe to invest in an up and coming Jewish community?

I’m no investment expert, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to invest your life savings into something like that.

As a general rule: the higher the potential returns, the higher the risk. If it were just easy money everyone would do it.

Not clear if your question refers to a property where you plan to live and are considering its long-term resale value or you are looking at such a property purely as an investment. Clearly, you NEVER put your life savings into any single asset or asset class and you want to maintain a diversifid portfolio. However, if you have a long-enough time horizon and have sufficient funds, no reason not to purchase such a property if you are reasonably confident about the future growth opportunities. However, if this is purely a financial investment, why does it matter whether the area is “an up and coming jewish communihy” or just any community with growth potential.

To invest your life savings in one thing is not safe no matter what it is.

I guess the real question is if it’s a low risk investment if it’s a successful up and coming community. Obviously, at some point houses in Monsey cost the same as normal up-state homes, and now they’re obscene. So, I could see why someone would want to get in on that. In reality, I think by the time you know it’s going to be a successful community, it’s too late.

….. and if this is your friend’s case, then just by imagining myself in her shoes, I’m very uncomfortable to say the least.

The only city that is safe to invest in real estate is yerushalyim it’s an eternal investment that can’t go bad and you will already have a home paid up for when mashiach comes. Start thinking about it and make the investment.

If it’s a condo I would strongly urge you/her not to invest. Unexpected repairs may come up and maintenance will exceed rental income also the apartment may lay vacant for a few months and you will have to pay maintenance even though there is no rental income.
Satmar built townhouses in Bloomingburg in upstate NY which are not selling and going into forclosure, is an example in NY of a community that was built and Jews moved in and then for what ever reason others didn’t follow.
If this investment is so great why does the broker need you to invest? He can borrow money from the bank. The reason is the risk is to great and he is just looking for a commission, which he will earn when he sells it. In short there is a good chance that you will lose some or all of your investment in this transaction, can you afford the loss.

“Satmar built townhouses in Bloomingburg in upstate NY which are not selling and going into forclosure, is an example in NY of a community that was built and Jews moved in and then for what ever reason others didn’t follow.”

I believe Mt. Kisco was also hoped to evolve into a rural, frum outpost, but it didn’t really catch on either.

The point is, lightbright, if you look only at places like Monsey, Lakewood, and Kiryas Yoel, it might seem like whenever the Jews decree that a place shall be an up-an-coming community, it’s a big success and housing prices skyrocket. But, this isn’t really the case as there are many failures that people just don’t talk about.

Scranton is another good example, ZD. I forgot about that one.

Is it too early to put Rochester on the list?

IMHO the takeaway is that with the high cost of living in Brooklyn and elsewhere, most “satellite” communities are doing great, new outposts are much more of a risk.

״If you buy a dirah in Yerushalayim, then how do you make money? Renting it out? Do you need a property manager in Israel? How do you know your place is being taken care of and such? Are there annual Israeli property taxes?״

If you buy real estate in Israel, you can rent it out short term as a vacation apartment (higher rates, daily or weekly, bigger headache because always looking for tenants, need to provide appliances and furniture at a high standard, and need to have it cleaned regularly for new guests) or long term (lower monthly rent, but more steady, easier maintenance and minimal investment) for immediate income, and hang on to it and sell when prices are higher (real estate in Israel seems to always be going up, there is a big housing shortage despite the current housing starts).
A property manager is a good idea if you plan to rent- you would need someone to be on top of finding tenants, arranging for the rent payments, maintenance/repairs when needed, which may be hard to from afar.
There is a one time purchase tax of 8% for which foreign residents are not exempt.
There is arnona, Israel’s version of municipal taxes, charged every month or two, usually paid by the tenant , as are other utilities and building maintenance fees. If you are not renting it, you would have to pay all of the above. Some places will give you a one time exemption if you don’t live there, other places have threatened to charge higher rates for empty apartments in order to discourage the phenomenon of ghost neighborhoods- “communities” where homes are owned by foreign investors and are left empty.