Hi everyone,
I’m thinking about purchasing a property and want to make sure that I’m not overpaying. Does anyone know where I can get a professional property valuation before making the purchase? Should I reach out to the bank, or are there independent services for this that will do it for a fair price? I’d also like to get an idea of the general market value in the area. Thanks for your advice!
There are a bunch of services out on the internet, but TBH I think they mainly want your email address. UBS for example offers such a service. You can try immomapper where they show some statistics for similar objects in the same area, but I am not sure how reliable those are. Also Comparis allows you (somehow, not super easy to find) to see the prices (asked, not final!) for past objects.
Or you can post it on here and people might evaluate it for free 
Go to the bank for a mortgage offer. They will make an internal valuation to decide how much they will lend. It’s not a true property valuation, but it can still be useful.
Appointment is scheduled. Just like you said its not a true valuation that‘s why i hoped to find more information but let‘s see….
I would say “fancy shit”. The price is in line for what I saw in other places, but more central with better connectivity to train etc., but where they did less luxury marketing.
Important technical/commercial questions I would ask : heating system (individual, together), who is doing the aeration and how is it planned, references of construction company and subcontractors etc., geological survey and who is owning the risk if the land starts to slide during construction (really important for terrass houses), are “Erschliessungskosten” already priced in, is the construction permit done and who has the risk for changes ?, Contract between the different homeowners ?
So many variables, so many risks involved (or not) that a clear answer is nearly impossible.
One point:
You will be kind of in the middle of nowhere, not sure if you can expect a substantial increase in land price in the long term.
In the end, this is all down to how much the highest bidder is ready to pay if several are interested, or the lowest price the seller is accepting if you are the only one… The notion of fair price does not really exist.
The main issue is obviously the location and that’s the main driver of a Real estate valuation: I know people living in a city close by who moved there couple of years ago because prices are of course lower than ZH and already want to move back closer to Zurich because they need more than an hour to come to the big city. One thing I don’t like in the screenshots you sent is the mixing of living area with what is not considered living area. In case this is not specified you should ask for the “Netto and Bruttowohnfläche”, underground rooms without windows and heating are not considered living area and the price per m2 of those rooms is of course a lot lower than the rest. For such buildings the Kubatur can also be an important parameter for the valuation.
Banks will not take a lot of risk on a property in this area so indeed having a good idea of the price as well as the demand in that area is crucial. A bank will run a valuation with W&P for free so go to one or two and ask and they will give you a price range. Depending on what parameters they put in the request to W&P the results might be different so you should ask several banks to get a good picture.
The UG is heated and also has some windows. On one picture you can see the GYM, which is in the UG but has those windows. Maybe that‘s considered a room? I‘m not sure how big the windows need to be to be considered a room but i can‘t see how it would be else. But thanks to all for the insights and informations. I will try and get a proper valuation from the bank but the questions i should ask are very valuable for me, thank you.
In this case i will also need to check what‘s in „Miteigentum“. Like there is an elevator for all other 3 houses except of the ine i‘m interested.
Furthermore, the stairs to the house seem to be together or through several parcels. Who pays this in case they get damaged? can the one above use it? As far as i know you need something like „Benutzungsrecht“ or something like that or at least a policy. But these are questions i will ask the constructor.
Firstly, i will do a valuation with the bank and update you guys.
Just a side note. Terrace looks very attractive, but it’s maintenance is very (personally) annoying: can’t leave delicate stuff like (non metal) loungers, soft covers, wooden furniture or even wooden tiles exposed to sun, rain, hail or snow.
My story - want quick coffee outside? Ah, need to take out/in chair, cover/uncover lounger, take soft cushions or sit on dirty/dusty metal chair. Meh, will have coffee inside…
For me it should have at least partial solid roof/cover where stuff could just stay long term.
True…Good point of view… Will think about that…
I think the room needs at least 10% of its own surface in window surface to be considered livable space. Something you will have to check. I have visited properties with the same room setup as the ones shown on the picture and those rooms were not considered livable space. Also they call this disponibel on the plan which is the definition of this additional space that is not considered livable. At best you can only consider a portion of the room as livable space depending on the actual window surface.
I am also in the same boat trying to figure the best way to evaluate the price for the property. We like a house (neubau) and want to evaluate whether the asking price is right.
One bank gave me the statistical market value 16% lower than the asking price and another bank (who is also financing the construction) gave me 13% lower than the asking price.
The agent obviously magically had the asking price equal to his evaluation from W&P. 
The thing in all the valuations is that no one visits the house and is based on input parameters provided (mainly in the sales brochure).
I was researching online and found a website (https://immopreis.ch/) who seem to do the valuation by visiting the house. When I contacted them, someone from https://www.propertyowner.ch/en/ reached out to me.
Does anyone have experience of using them for property valuation? Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. First post on a very helpful forum!
Banks use hedonic models from Wüest & Partner, FPRE and/or IAZI to determine how much they are willing to finance, so talking to your bank advisor should be the cheapest way to get a useful estimate.
Online forms promising a “free appraisal” are primarily lead generators and will only give you a less reliable, very rough range (if at all).
May I ask what would you do if the appraiser says property is over valued?
As far as I know in Switzerland negotiation is very limited and with low mortgage rates, there are many buyers who might want to park the money.
You probably mean overpriced?
If the bank is only willing to finance a lower value, you will “simply” need to cough up more equity.
Actually I was thinking more in lines of what is outcome of this valuation exercise
If it’s take it or leave it offer, there is not much that can be done
Take an informed decision to buy or not.
If deciding to buy, knowing how much above the valuation do I want to cough up if at all.
if the asking price is over the valuation i will try to match it. Because if i can‘t match it i will simply not buy. It‘s a big project so they should have some room. I will also be a little flexible but i‘m not paying 100-200k over market value.
Once i have it black on white i will see if its an take it or leave it offer.
