# Buying a cheap mountain studio to save on Zurich housing
**URL:** https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [August 15, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424 "2026-08-15T10:47:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@VitorBazuka](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/VitorBazuka)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/1 "2026-08-15T10:47:12Z")
Hi folks, as I am working only a few times per week in zurich, would like to know if anyone did what was mentioned in the title, as I am considering it š
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### Author:  [@Wolverine](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Wolverine)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/2 "2026-08-15T12:32:24Z")
The title being longer than the message really makes it hard to muster the desire to answer. š
**Edit** : the title has since been edited.
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### Author:  [@nabalzbhf](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/nabalzbhf)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/3 "2026-08-15T12:36:35Z")
Why not try it out, seems like something very personal (will you like small village life, what about commute, etc.).
Find/negotiate a long term rental somewhere and sublet your Zurich apartment for a few months.
(I suspect if a studio goes for 300k, you can find rental for fairly cheap).
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### Author:  [@gaijin](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/gaijin)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 12:45pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/4 "2026-08-15T12:45:47Z")
My assumption is there will be no real world testimonials. Therefore my thoughts. Your idea only makes sense for a very small part of the population (maybe 0.1%). Without a strong motivation to live and integrate into a small mountain village (which I donāt see from you at this point, since you only point out the monetary aspects) I highly doubt that you are part of this small part of the population. But of course, as suggested by @nabalzbhf youāre free to try.
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### Author:  [@PhilMongoose](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/PhilMongoose)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/5 "2026-08-15T18:02:34Z")
Makes more sense to decide where you want to live. Many people want to live in ZH city since thereās a lot of stuff happening there.
Normally, if you want to live further out, you want the space nature etc.
It was a few years ago, but if you want to save money, you could a small room just a bit larger than a single bed relatively cheaply.
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### Author:  [@Grog](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Grog)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/6 "2026-08-15T20:51:54Z")
Get something in Bellinzona/Ticino
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### Author:  [@ZHCycle](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/ZHCycle)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/7 "2026-08-15T21:37:46Z")
few times per week? So 2? 3?
Even 2 for me would not be worth a mountain studio, like Zurich is far from real āmountain studiosā.
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### Author:  [@Ilixio](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Ilixio)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 8:01am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/8 "2026-08-16T08:01:34Z")
What is the question exactly?
Not exactly the same, but I spent most of the summer in the mountains to escape the constant 30+ of my under the roof city flat, leaving in a chalet with relatives.
The commute will be hell if you do the round trip in one day (in my case itās 2h30 one way). Doing it over 2 days and sleeping one night in the city makes it a lot more acceptable in my opinion, but you need a reliable sleeping solution and itās going to increase your costs.
Integration will most likely be difficult (was difficult for my relatives when they simply moved to the next valley over), especially the smaller (and thus most likely cheaper) the village is.
But itās not like you have to integrate either if you donāt want to. Shared hobbies help.
You will have a lot fewer amenities, and will need to travel long distances for stuff that could have been a 5 minutes walk before. A car will very likely be unavoidable, increasing costs.
I would check that you have at least the basics (groceries, maybe a doctor) nearby. If you have health issues, I wouldnāt recommend; getting stuck in the winter with the road closed and helicopters not being able to fly is becoming less common, but not outside the realm of possibilities.
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### Author:  [@tokzoo](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/tokzoo)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 8:29am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/9 "2026-08-16T08:29:24Z")
I am actually really interested in the opposite. I live in Zurich area but tired of the city life. Yet you have to stay because of professional reasons.
The idea is to buy a cheap (\< 300k), remote, rustic mountain house in Valais/Ticino/Graubunden. There is a high supply of such house in these cantons. Some examples: [1](https://immobiliensuche.edireal.com/tiimmobili.ch/immobilien/Haus-Kauf/Schweiz/Tessin/Locarno/4-1_2-Zimmer-Rustico-mit-einem-gro%C3%9Fen-Grundst%C3%BCck-von-12.000m2-in-sch%C3%B6ner-1002995375?pageIdx=0&itemsPerPage=25&estates-view=list-view&offerType=SELL&country=CH&division=CH.21&category=8&priceFrom=195000&priceTo=200000&areaFrom&areaTo&groundAreaFrom&groundAreaTo&roomNumberFrom&roomNumberTo&sorting=MODIFICATION_DATE), [2](https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003229869), [3](https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003385993)
The ideal would be central Switzerland for a quicker weekend commute from Zurich with still amazing mountains. But unfortunately, the market has nothing to offer in these regions (and the price would be in a whole other level).
Of course this is an expensive toy but unlike a sport car, the depreciation of such assets is much more reasonable.
Has anyone experience with purchasing a rustico like that ?
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### Author:  [@VitorBazuka](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/VitorBazuka)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:03am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/10 "2026-08-16T10:03:04Z")
thanks guys, it doesnt have to be that remote. I also value tranquil life and nature and just need to commute 2x per week to zurich. I was thinking about a location where there are cheap studios like under 300k but still relatively short commute to zurich like 1h/1.5h by SBB.
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### Author:  [@VitorBazuka](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/VitorBazuka)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:03am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/11 "2026-08-16T10:03:50Z")
amazing prices but too far from zurich unfortunately
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### Author:  [@VitorBazuka](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/VitorBazuka)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:04am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/12 "2026-08-16T10:04:24Z")
maybe somewhere in inner schwyz, just looking for ideas and similar stories š
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### Author:  [@nabalzbhf](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/nabalzbhf)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:09am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/13 "2026-08-16T10:09:52Z")
> [@VitorBazuka](#):
>
> cheap studios like under 300k but still relatively short commute to zurich like 1h/1.5h by SBB
Did you find such prices in that commute distance?
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### Author:  [@PhilMongoose](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/PhilMongoose)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:18am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/14 "2026-08-16T10:18:17Z")
you can also do a trial by renting for a few months first to see how it goes. A house in the mountains sounds like something which is great in the abstract, but probably has a lot of real-life issues in reality.
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### Author:  [@VitorBazuka](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/VitorBazuka)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/15 "2026-08-16T10:20:12Z")
[https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003192046](https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003192046)
[https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003267253](https://www.homegate.ch/buy/4003267253)
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### Author:  [@Wolverine](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Wolverine)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2026, 10:43am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/buying-a-cheap-mountain-studio-to-save-on-zurich-housing/19424/16 "2026-08-16T10:43:12Z")
Funny how we are conditioned by the prices weāre used to. I would not have considered 300k for a studio āin some mountain villageā cheap, unless the studio was in an upper touristic resort, a tax haven or very big (Iām used to non-resort Walliser prices).
Renovations can be costly and co-ownership of a building can be tricky. I would make sure to know what the co-ownership charges are and, if not buying new, make sure the renovation fund has been properly funded until then.
Other costs to take into account may involve snow removal. Not all roads are public and if the access to the building is private, there might be a decently long segment incurring snow removal and maintainance and repairs costs, which might involve wastewater and tapwater infrastructure, about which nobody cares (so theyāre often not maintained) until there is a problem, they call the municipality and are being told that thereās a decent bit of the infrastructure that is private and the problem is on the private part.
Buying/renting a studio in the mountains could be worth it to benefit from lower temperatures during the summer alone though itād have to be fairly high already for it to meaningfully matter and one would have to be careful that there are also colder temperatures and potentially snow (not only the nice kind) in the winter.