Houses older than 50 years have many hidden (& unpleasant) surprises.
Only a "handwerker" (handworker/tradesman) would buy an old house - where he and she can do their own slow alterations/modifications.
If one is happy with an apartment in a block, with guarantees, (and living restrictions) then go for it. You can lock your door and go away on holidays to escape the neighbors.
If one is a free spirit type then rather go for an individual house. The pleasure of living in massively increased. Except you probably will never go on lovely holidays again. A house gobbles money - worse than any teenager. But gives much pleasure and quality of life (the house that is) .
There are always free standing houses of decent quality available, usually asking maximum price, but one can always make an offer - don`t let anyone tell you "That`s not done in Switzerland".
I agree that accessibility is an important point to consider, not only for you as you get older and possibly less able to cope with stairs etc but also maybe now or n the near future if you have older relatives etc who visit you.
We discovered that our supposedly well planned house in Belgium didn't work quite so well when my mother visited us once she was no longer able to go upstairs easily.
Access to amenities like shops,doctors etc and possibly schools is another thing to take into consideration as are good transport links.
We only considered single family houses as apartment living is not for us and having looked at quite at lot and weighed up all the pros and cons we opted for a new build detached house. We were totally not interested in a renovation project or anything that needed a lot if work doing to it and overall we just prefer the feel of newer properties. ( light, space etc)
If I had the budget for a million (which I dont) I would look around for a house which has an attached apartment. My sister in law bought one near Lenzburg, big house, nice views of the mountains on a clear day for close to a million, and the rent from the apartment underneath covers the entire mortgage. I think stand alone houses with some land are probably the bst long term investment. Also try and develop a relationship with some real estate people so you can get a look in on things before they get to immo scout and the like....
Totally agree with MathNut comment about being very careful if you choose to buy an old house. As we are in our middle and late fifties, we checked and re-checked access issues, including wheel-chair access, that we could live downstairs if necessary, etc. We also got the local tradesmen (and fortunately being an ex-local with parents here really helped with finding people we could trust) and checked all the essential services and structure, roof, roof beams (dating from 1663), foundations, electricity, plumbing, etc, etc. and costed what little had to be done (spraying roof trusses/beams for minor wood-worm), putting right the electrics in one part of the house, putting central heating and cistern up-to-date and adding solar panels, and adding a massive granit wood-burner to supplement central heating. And of course ensuring we have excellent public transport, both locally and quick access to train network and TGV was essential- as we might not be able to drive one day.
The rest if all cosmetic- yes, I'd love a new kitchen- but if it doesn't happen, it just doesn't (The £ to CHF put a stop to that for now)- and we will just add a new Italian style shower-room for guests asap, and re-decorate the 'old wing'. The rest- we can live with VERY happily in the meantime- love it. I totally understand why people prefer new modern houses- but it is just not for us. Feeling the history around us, and space not just in, but around us- is what we truly yearned for, and got it.