Yossi is an experienced real estate developer. In Israel he has already led complex projects, from residential buildings to commercial complexes. He's used to a world where licensing takes years, but after the permit, construction races ahead. He knows the local market well, the contractors, the lawyers and all the little tricks.
When he decided to expand to Greece, he chose a picturesque island, the kind that attracts investors and tourists alike, and decided to build a project of twenty luxury villas there.
“We'll make a big move here,” he told his friends. “Demand for property on the islands just keeps growing, and they're not used to the Israeli standard. We'll bring quality, we'll bring fast dynamics, and we'll lead.”
But very quickly he discovered that things were not proceeding at the pace he knows.
The promising start
The site was perfect, near the coast, with a magnificent view of the sea. The local architect sat with Yossi and designed spacious villas with private pools, green gardens and a design suited to both tourists and investors.
To his surprise, the licensing went relatively fast. “In Israel I'd have waited two years just for a committee approval,” he thought, “and here within a few months we're moving ahead.”
But when the execution stage arrived, everything changed.
The contractor and the local rhythm
Yossi was used to the fact that in Israel, after a permit, the contractor enters the site with heavy equipment, and the work is noisy, fast and efficient.
On the island, by contrast, the local contractor arrived in the morning with a small crew, drank coffee, talked about the weekend's fishing, and only then began to think about pouring the foundations.
“What is this?” Yossi asked the local supervisor. “At this pace we'll build a villa and a half per year.”
The supervisor smiled: “This is Greece, Yossi. People live differently here. Not under pressure, not running.”
As the project progressed, Yossi discovered that about every month there was a new reason to stop work: a local holiday, heavy heat, or simply the crew's annual vacation.
“How do I explain this to my investors in Israel?” he thought. “They're used to hearing that once there's a permit, construction races ahead. Here it's the opposite: the permit comes fast, but execution goes on forever.”
One day a major investor from Israel called him:
“Yossi, what's going on with the project? You said we'd see finished villas within two years. A year and a half has already passed, and we barely have the frame of a few units.”
Yossi replied carefully: “Everything is progressing, it's just that the pace here is… different. It takes patience.”
“Patience?” the investor exploded. “We're putting millions into this. We expected an Israeli pace.”
Here lay the real pain: not in the laws, not in the taxation, but in the way of thinking.
In Israel, Yossi knew you have to fight for every week, apply pressure on the contractor, not give up until things move. On the island, such an approach was seen as impudence. When he tried to push and speed things up, the locals closed up. When he got angry, they gave a polite smile but simply slowed down even more.
He understood that the Israeli assertiveness which, back home, is a key to success, becomes an obstacle in Greece.
The turning point
In one of the meetings with the contractor and the architect, Yossi decided to change his approach.
Instead of opening the meeting with a demand for a schedule, he sat with them over coffee, talked about family, about the weather, even about the local football team. Only after half an hour did he bring up the subject of progress.
To his surprise, the meeting turned pleasant. The contractor began offering solutions, and the architect showed a real willingness to speed up some of the stages.
The lesson he learned
Yossi understood that in Greece, and in every international real estate project, culture sets the pace no less than law or money.
In Israel - licensing is slow, but after the permit everything runs.
In Greece - the permit is obtained quickly, but construction is carried out at a local pace, calm, almost festive.
Whoever doesn't understand this difference falls into a trap of frustration with investors, contractors and himself.
When the first villas were finally completed, Yossi stood facing the view of the blue sea and smiled. He knew this project had not been only a financial investment; it had been a lesson in life.
He learned that for an Israeli developer building abroad, the biggest pain is not always the law, not always the taxation, but the cultural and business gap: how to deal with contractors and authorities, how to cope with an entirely different rhythm, and how to bridge the expectations of Israeli investors with the reality of the Greek island.
And in his words: “In the end I learned that you can't build Greek villas at an Israeli pace. Whoever tries gets frustrated. Whoever understands succeeds.”
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית