I've seen lots of comments about zurich and switzerland being expensive in regards to apartments or property in general, however you also seem to find adds for apartments to buy for CHF 600 000 for an apartment approaching 100 sq.m so I'm wondering what is the average price of an aparmtment in zurich (let's say for arguments sake we'll use 100 sq.m)
Or are they really priced well over the CHF 1 000 000 mark?
I'm moving to Switzerland and was thinking about buying something, but am now really confused if I'll be able to actually buy something. Please vote.
I know that this all depends on location, location, and location, but for arguments sake let's just pick somewhere average, ie. not right smack bang in the city where I suspect it would be really expensive, and not somewhere right out in the sticks where nobody would want to live.
As you have not put where you are from in your profile, I don't know whether you will find property prices high or low in the Zurich area. Compared to pre-crash London it's cheap to Montana it's expensive.
However i suggest you read more here on buying - essentially it will take months if not years to find the right place and tax on profit means that you really should not consider buying unless you are here for at least 10 years...
CHF 8,000 - 13,000 per sq metre is a rough guide: see homegate.ch
You don't need to buy something here. You will end up paying extra taxes from the deemed rental income and repairs cost a small fortune.
Distance to a train station, noise levels and view can dramically change the property price. I have had two places valued here, and according to the valuer, having a view can add 30% on the purchase price while being on the railway line and can reduce the value by up to 50%.
So, not all 100m2 in Zürich will be > 1m. My colleague found a house in Bülach ZH for CHF 600k as an example.
Thanks for the comments, however from the question you could probably tell that I'm a newbie around here, so chances are that I'll probably cover something that has already been discussed beforehand. But if you don't like the poll you don't have to vote. I'm only looking for other people's opinion.
Move here first, worry about buying later ( much later ) in the future when you know for sure if Switzerland truly is the place you want to settle down in (it's not for everyone).
Thanks for the tip ... I wasn't really thinking about buy straight away, but within 6 months after arrival I figured that I should have a fairly good idea if I want to stay or not. Then I would look around to buying something. And the reason that I'm thinking of this is that I've noticed though that ( at first appearance ) that it seems to be cheaper to buy something and pay a mortgage on it, then to actually rent a similar apartment. ie. the interest payments on the mortgage would be about the same as the actual rent itself, especially if you work for a bank and get discounted rates. What that also means is that if I were to leave Swiss, then the rent payments that I would collect from the apartment would be sufficient in paying the apartment off ... means that it would be a neutral investment, not requiring "financial maintenance" from my part in the future. Maybe I've just got the wrong impression?
Anyone knows the Swiss Rental Laws and Regulations ?
How easy or difficult is to "get rid of a tenant" who is not willing to pay monthly rent ?
E.g. if you are the owner of an appartment in Germany and your tenant is not able / not willing to pay the monthly rent .. you are unable to to kick off the person for 6+ or more months .. need the file a couar case ... and still after this time you have to pay all costs for court and other fees.
This makes any investment for the purpose of renting .. not too interesting in Germany (imo).
Is this the same in Switzerland, too .. means tenant having "all" rights ?
By Far I am not an expert in the Swiss real estate market.. my husband and I just happen to be also looking to purchase a home in Baden area (about 15 min train ride from Zurich). One of the properties we've looked at was a brand new 3.5-Zimmer apartment (100 sq.m +garten) in downtown Baden (5 min walk to SBB) but on a surprisingly quiet street and the list price is just over Sfr. 500K. We haven't done substantive search in Zurich but believe the comparable apartment (nice neighbourhood, quiet and so on) would probably jump start at around 650K-700K.. then from there the sky is the limit.
One thing we learned was that apparently B Permit holder is not allowed to maintain rental residential properties in CH - i.e. if the B Permit holder leaves CH then he or she would need to sell the property. B Permit holders are only allowed to own property if they reside in the country. I don't believe that's an issue if you are a C Permit holder.
This is just another thing you might want to take into consideration when purchasing a property...
You also need to factor in maintenance costs. Assume 1% of the purchase price per year - this is what UBS does on their affordability calculator. Repairs ain't cheap here.
Interest rates (Libor) have also more than doubled in the last 3 years. Working for a bank won't necesarily get you the best interest rate either. You will also pay extra taxes for the deemed rental income. In my case, the deemed rental income for our home is close to my part-time salary - so be aware of this.
As for renting your place out when you leave, the amount of money tied up in your home may mean you can't buy elsewhere when you move.