About the Firm
JB Group was established to offer a more personal approach to real estate representation than a large agency can sustain.
Our Story
Jonathan Bar-Lev spent a decade advising private clients on residential acquisitions in Tel Aviv before starting JB Group. The reason for starting it was straightforward: the larger agencies he had worked within were structured around volume, and volume is incompatible with the kind of attention a significant transaction actually requires.
The firm has stayed small on purpose. Five people, a limited number of live mandates at any time, and a rule that whoever takes an instruction sees it through to registration. We turn down more instructions than we accept, and we say why.
We are not the largest brokerage in Israel and have no ambition to be. What we offer is a considered opinion, a properly executed marketing strategy, and someone who is still answering the phone at the point in a transaction where most problems surface.
Philosophy
A property transaction is one of the few decisions where the cost of poor advice is measured in years, not months.
Everything about how the firm is organised follows from that: the size of the team, the number of mandates we take, and the fact that the person who values a property is the person who negotiates its sale.
How We Work
If a property is wrong, or a price is unrealistic, we say so early. Clients are not well served by agreement.
We limit how much we take on. It is the only way one advisor can stay with a transaction from beginning to end.
Nothing about a client, a property or a transaction is disclosed without instruction — not to portals, not to other agents, not in marketing.
Valuations come with comparables attached. Negotiating positions are prepared before they are taken.
We work in six markets rather than twenty, because knowing a street is worth more than covering a country.
The work after an offer is accepted is where transactions fail. We stay involved through registration and handover.
The Team
Each advisor holds their own mandates and answers their own phone. There is no call centre and no junior desk.
Founder & Managing Partner
Jonathan founded JB Group in 2014 after a decade advising private clients on residential acquisitions in Tel Aviv and along the Sharon coast. He leads the firm's seller representation and handles the majority of its off-market instructions. He works on a small number of mandates at a time, by preference.
Partner, Head of Sales
Michal runs the firm's sales desk and its buyer-side mandates. She spent seven years in residential development sales before joining JB Group, and brings an unusually precise read on how a building will actually live once it is finished. She negotiates most of the firm's larger transactions.
Senior Advisor — Tel Aviv & Neve Tzedek
Daniel covers central Tel Aviv, with a particular focus on the conservation districts around Neve Tzedek, Lev Ha'ir and the Bauhaus quarter. He has managed several full restorations and advises clients on what a listed building will and will not permit before they commit.
Advisor — Sharon & Coastal Markets
Noa represents clients across Herzliya Pituach, Caesarea and the northern coastal towns. She grew up in Herzliya and knows the difference a single street can make to a valuation there. She handles a number of the firm's quietly-marketed coastal instructions.
Advisor — Jerusalem & International Clients
Elias advises overseas buyers, principally from North America and Western Europe, and covers the Jerusalem market. He guides clients through the parts of an Israeli purchase that are genuinely unfamiliar — purchase tax banding, Tabu registration and the practicalities of buying at a distance.
Markets
Each of these is a market we transact in regularly enough to hold a view on. We do not take instructions outside them.
Israel's densest and most liquid residential market. Value here is decided street by street: the conservation blocks off Rothschild, the towers of Park Tzameret and the seafront line each behave as separate markets with their own buyers.
Lev Ha'ir · Park Tzameret · Rothschild · The seafront
Low-density, largely detached, and the closest thing Israel has to an established villa market. Proximity to the sea and plot orientation drive valuations far more than internal size, and the best streets rarely reach open marketing.
Nof Yam · The marina · Wingate · Beit Israel
A market with a long horizon and a distinct buyer profile, weighted toward overseas purchasers and long-hold owners. The German Colony, Talbiya and Rehavia hold value through cycles better than almost anywhere else in the country.
German Colony · Talbiya · Rehavia · Baka
Planned, low-density and unusually private. Buyers here are typically trading space in Tel Aviv for plot size and quiet, and transactions are slower and more considered as a result. Golf-side and sea-side addresses command clear premiums.
The golf course · Sea-facing plots · Neighbourhood 13
The most accessible waterfront in the country. Marina-facing stock offers sea views at a fraction of central-coast pricing, which has made it a consistent choice for both second homes and income-producing purchases.
The marina · Sea promenade · Ir HaYam
A long coastline with genuine variety, from established cliff-top buildings to the newer Ir Yamim district. Strong rental demand and a large francophone community give the market a distinct rhythm.
Ir Yamim · Poleg · The cliff line · Nitza Boulevard
Tel Aviv's first neighbourhood, and the tightest supply in the city. Low-rise, protected and almost entirely built out — which means that what does come to market is nearly always restored, and nearly always contested.
Shabazi Street · Suzanne Dellal · HaTachana
North Tel Aviv at its most residential: mature planting, generous plot ratios and a settled owner-occupier profile. Garden apartments and low buildings dominate, and turnover is low.
Ramat Aviv Gimel · The university quarter · Tzahala
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Whether you are buying, selling or simply weighing your options, an early conversation is usually the most useful thing we can offer.