My father in law owns a property in Zurich and he has to pay "baurecht zins". I do not understand what this cost is about. I would be very pleased if someone could explain how this works in Switzerland.
Thanks
Hello
This has been covered before here. Literally 'building rights interest (as in %)', the nearest equivalent in the UK is leasehold property/land as opposed to freehold.
The figures seem to be about CHF8,000/year on a property of about 750,000 value. The original price of the property will have been lower to reflect this and I assume the resale price will be similarly effected...
Hi
He owns this property and is paying something like 14,000 per year. He cannot get rid of the property as nobody wants to pay this baurecht zins. He has offered to pay someone to take it away and still nobody is interested in it.
Im just trying to work out how this can be possible?
By the way it is an apartment and valued at around 250,000 swiss francs (even though nobody will buy it at 1 swiss franc). To me it doesnt add up and wondering if he is getting ripped off somehow.
Oh and I have done a search on the forum and have found no posts on this.
Is there any legal way he can get rid of the apartment without losing so much money in the short or long term as it seems nobody will take ownership?
It's not a rip off, it's quite legal. We were offer this alternative and turned it down flat.
To be blunt your father-in-law should have realised this before purchasing - and certainly taken legal advise. I certainly would not advise anyone to purchase a property on this basis. Often properties that do not sell well in homegate.ch etc, are because of this.
It may be possible to buy out the lease/ Baurechts Zins . But it would not be cheap, he would be stopping an income of 14,000 for eternity to someone.
But I must say that a CHF1.00 and 14,000/year, I'm sure there would be many interested parties. Even on this forum...
Hi
Thanks for the info. I would certainly be interested in knowing if there was a way of getting rid of the lease, if anyone else has any ideas.
Woah AnAustralian, your father in law is in a weak position! He owns the appartment but not the soil it is built upon. In the contract he agreed to pay a Baurechtszins for the right to have a construction on this land.
An agreement of this type doesn't run indefinitely but usually for 50-100 years. After this period, one contracting party might buy the other's proprietary, or the agreement might be prolonged, I don't know and I'm pretty sure it is specified in the contract.
Maybe the land owner is willing to sell the land but since this form of contract usually is very beneficial to him, and there probably are other appartments on the same land, this is unlikely. If it is at all possible, careful lecture of the contract and legal assistance is the only way to get rid of the Baurechtszins now.
Hello Nathu,
Thanks, Know any good lawyers?
Sorry, I'm totally unexperienced as far as lawyers in Switzerland are concerned.
Maybe another user can give you a specific tip or general hints where to get advise or legal support.
Anyway the first step is that you get a copy of this contract for yourself and carefully read it, I wish you the best.
Hi all..
I was wondering if anyone remembers a (crazy) thread about someone from abroad trying to sell, well....basically give away, a flat in Zürich??
It was something about it costing them a lot in rates & taxes (from the UK)and they just couldn't sell it.
I just read it in passing & happened to mention it to some friends, having a laugh, & they all said I have to find out more info on the topic.
Someone MUST remember the story!!!
This one?
http://www.englishforum.ch/apartment...-interest.html
Laughing about it is a bit mean!
YES!!! That's it!!
Thanks so much!!!!
Well we actually weren't laughing 'meanly', it was more in disbelief that someone couldn't get rid of an apartment in ZüRICH!!
Excellent!