We are not sure what area we would like but are flexible however we do have a 6 year old so maybe not that flexible in that we want to have good schools, parks etc nearby.
Here are our criteria:
-no more than 40km from Zurich
-family friendly neighborhood with schools, parks, shopping etc.
-easy access to trains, buses
-area with good resale value
-competitive housing prices
-low taxes
-no more than 30 min to airport
Is this feasible? Your help or advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks
Thanks but what is the area called when you do a search?
Although that very much depends on the OPs definition of competitive...
Side note - you did not mention a budget... I hope you have plenty because you will need it. A large flat will be around 2.5 Million there, a house on your own? the sky is the limit...
Zug is also a good bet (Town, Old town and Zugerberg), but with substantially lower taxes.
It clearly is pretty competitive there as any decent real estate will hardly ever make it onto homegate... the only problem you will have is that the bank wont loan you the money completely, so youll need a pretty full bank account. A friend went to an auction there recently. between 200 and 300 bidders showed up and the place sold within minutes for a nice 800k over his banks valuation.
The Swiss real estate market is not like that of many other countries. Given the paucity of properties available, restrictions on use of properties, anti-speculation penalties, etc., buy first and foremost as a place to live, consider investment secondary. If you make a profit on resale then that's the icing on the cake.
You don't mention your budget...
Gold Coast, the right side of the Zürichsee (Zollikon-Meilen, with Männedorf and Stafa a sort of 'lesser gold coast') is the Meilen area on the Homegate map. These properties are expensive. You may be hard pressed to find a decent single family home for under 2-3 Million, many go for quite a bit more than that. There will be significant competition for the few properties under 2 million.
Ditto anywhere around or in sight of the lake. Left side of the lake, from Wädenswil to Thalwil, is called the Horgan area on the Homegate map. Taxes higher than the gold coast.
Ausserschwyz (Canton SZ, Wollerau to Bäch along the lake, plus Schindellegi and Feusisberg) is Höfe, and the towns around the Obersee (Lachen, Altendorf, Galgenen) is the March area. Höfe is lower tax than March - in fact, Höfe is the lowest in the country for high income earners. Prices are even higher for a single family home. As Trev says, the sky's the limit.
Also look at canton ZG - again, very low taxes, high prices.
These are all lovely, family friendly areas, easy commute to the city. More than 30 minutes to the airport, though.
Prices will generally be lower away from the lake - but not necessarily for single family homes. There are so few single family homes available that prices in that segment tend to not trend by area or tax rate to the extent that other properties do.
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I have to say, though - buying here requires extensive knowledge of the areas you are considering, as mistakes can be easily made and very difficult/expensive to get out of. These are very basic questions you are asking - are you sure you are ready to commit to spending millions in this market yet?
"The following municipalities are situated on the Goldcoast: Küsnacht ZH, Zollikon, Erlenbach ZH, Herrliberg, Meilen, Männedorf and Stäfa. All of the above are within the district of Meilen (Meilen District). The rest of the right shore of the lake is sometimes also referred to as being on the Goldcoast."
2 - What's low taxes to you?
If you increase your time to the airport to 45-60 minutes, then I guess you can start to dream.
I personally haven't been to the area, but I heard that the district of Pfäffikon (ZH) has some reasonably priced houses and it is close to Zürich and the airport. No clue about the rest.
Our max budget is 1M but hoping for something around 800K if it exists.
By low taxes I mean lower than Zurich ...
And by low taxes I mean low compared to Zurich Canton.