I'm keen to hear from anyone who has bought a place in Jura. I'm currently house hunting with my husband. Would love to benefit from your experiences and get some advice. Please get in touch and...merry Christmas!!
Hello
We looked and decided against buying there as while property prices may be low and more affordable, taxes are high.
People in the Jura are quite special. The area has a rather turbulent past given that its separation from the canton of Bern was anything but amicable. Although people can be very friendly, they are also very suspicious of anything that comes from anywhere other than local institutions.
But people are generally hospitable. When doing military service up there as a young officer, I was often invited by farmers to share the family's breakfast in the warm farm kitchen, or if it was later in the day, to partake of some "Green Fairy" (absinthe).
Some areas are stunningly beautiful (although they can be very off the beaten track) and others can be a bit run down, bearing testament to the decline of the local watch industry (mostly absorbed by the Swatch Group).
Saignelégier is a great little town (or big village) and hosts an annual equestrian event, le Marché Concours, which is very popular. The area is also very popular for cross-country skiiing.
As Mrs. D said, properties are very reasonable, but taxes can be quite punitive.
And be careful with the term 'Jura' as it can mean many things...
The Jura is a chain of mountains first and foremost, from about Geneva to Basel. It is also a French 'Départment' but there are also other French 'Départments' in the Jura ... and of course on the Swiss side, many Cantons are partly in the Jura, parts of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Bern and Basel ... and there is of course a Canton called the Jura, and another the Jura Bernois.
I guess you are talking about the Jura and the Jura Bernois?
As for Jurassiens being 'quite special' lol, I'd say the Valaisans are 'quite special' in their own way, so are the Fribourgeois ... and any other C/Kantons for that matter, lol.
Just to be clear so as not to confuse the OP. The Jura Bernois isn’t actually a canton in itself, it’s a part of canton Bern.
Indeed- and the border is still very much disputed (as many Jura people do not like being ruled from Bern!). Very complicated and long history, with both language and religion in the mix.
Just like the vaudois hated being ruled from Berne! For 262 years!
Yes, and no- at least they were all Protestants ...
The religious history of the Jura and Bern, and Basel- is quite something!
Indeed...as I found out as a young officer walking into the Café du Soleil in Saignelégier in full army uniform many years ago. I had gone to ask if I could lodge a group of soldiers there during forthcoming exercises. My older, more experienced colleagues had "omitted" to tell me that the café was a separatist hangout. I remember making an exceedingly speedy exit, never to return!
I would hope that things have calmed down a bit now that the new canton is well established! But at the time, feelings ran high and tempers were very frayed.
We moved to the Jura Bernois 26 years ago and this is the view from my garden bench. We are above the fog (most of the time), near to Bienne and the motorway to Zürich. The tax'es are paid in Bern, what more could one ask for?
Ah yes- but you have to speak Bärntütsch - nuff said! (lol)
Plenty of places in the Jura Bernois with French as their principal language.
The only village with German speaking schools in the Jura Bernois is I think Evilard. In our village we have more English speaking familys, than German speaking.
We were quite serious about a house in the Berner Jura last year. Lovely old place, just what we wanted, owners eager to sell to us. A refreshing change from the cut throat competitive market in greater Zuri metro/Schwyz area where we are currently.
I thought we’d be OK with our German and the tattered remnants of my schoolgirl French, but the first visit to (whatever the French is for) the Bauamt and Einwohnerkontrolle, as well as visiting several shops and cafes in the village, showed me that I was quite wrong. Good French was absolutely required in this village, German a nonstarter with local officialdom. Toss in that we are outsiders only a few years from OH retiring, I felt a definite chill in the air.
Just this small village? More widespread attitude? Would a younger family have been more welcome? Who knows.
Lovely as that property and surrounding area was, I did not think that village the right place to find the sense of community we hope for in which to while away our golden years.
But that’s me and my particular wish-list. YMMV.
There is a real language issue linked to a very lond history in the Jura BE, and Jura- that is totally true. Too complicated to explain here - including the links to religious history.
But the 'chill' you felt could apply to most rural areas around the world, and in the UK in Wales or Devon, Norfolk or Yorkshire- etc. You have to make an effort to be accepted- and yes, language is part of it. I have a friend from NYC who moved to rural Vermont a couple of years back, and it took him and family a while, for sure. Same for our friends from Virginia when they moved ro rural CO, etc.
The history of the region is just fascinating - with über Protestant people being welcomed in to what was the Bishopry of Basel, staunchly Catholic- that welcomed both Protestant Menonites chased away but the Protestant Bernese, and the Huguenots of France who had to escape Catholic France, lest they be tortured and burned alive for their Faith....
Just a Wiki link here - but there are many many books, PHds, and so much written about the region
Yes! We have a spread sheet we consult every time we see a house. The tax increase is eye watering in some cases.
With house and other prices in proportion- usually. And house sizes and availaibility of land t'other way round....So much to take into consideration, not 'just' taxes.
Hate to spoil the romance but better sooner than later.
Before buying do a Radon check.
In fact, the owner should have already tested.
The region is in the red zone.
While one should expect some level of warines of newcomers in every village in Switzerland, and while one should obviously understand that the onus is on the newcomer to integrate, nonetheless attitudes towards those who do not have fluency in the local language is something anyone contemplating buying needs to know.
Before investing millions in a property, one needs to understand what lack of local language would mean to QoL, just as one investigates the schools, local infrastructure, village amenities, etc. in evaluating whether the village is right for you, or not.
For us, it was clear that moving without fluent French, no matter how eager one was to learn, would have meant that life would not be easy. It was simply one of those villages. So best to look elsewhere, where one finds a more welcoming ‘vibe’.
Rural, traditional life can be tricky for newcomers, there can be both exciting positives and significant negatives unique to any particular village. It does no one any favors to pretend otherwise.
My response to the ‘chill’ i felt in this village is just that: mine. For us, the negatives out weighted the positives, it simply was not a place for us to invest in at this stage of our lives, either in terms of time or treasure. The OP might have a very different motivation for moving to the Jura area, hence the YMMV comment.
I no longer see much ‘proportionality’ for taxes/house prices if you are talking about buying a single family home. There are so few decent sized single family homes on decent sized lots available anywhere in Switzerland, while demand has skyrocketed, so the price for these types of properties has risen largely regardless of the area tax rate.
In fact, from my search, the price differential is not much compared to most of German-speaking Switzerland outside the ultra overheated metro areas. Whereas the tax differential might price you out of the area altogether.
So yes, it’s not just taxes - but taxes are perhaps more important these days in determining financial viability, as in this new market the offset might not be as much as it had been in the past.