I wanted to ask you for an opinion on a mortgage loan in Switzerland for my own house. This is a flat in the final phase of the constructions (only the finishings are missing).
I contacted a certain mortgage dealer (who was indicated to me by the developer) and (after signing and paying the booking deposit) they taught me that I had to take a credit for a construction mortgage (only four months to do the finishings). Until now no problem, but now they tell me that I absolutely have to take the mortgage for this construction period at UBS because it is the « carrier » bank of the project… I’ve never heard of being forced to take a particular bank for a project 
, it really seems to me WTF…
Have you ever heard of such a case?
I’ve been looking into buying a house in canton Fribourg which is in very early stages of construction, it’s pretty much just a field still. I was informed by the mortgage consultant that BCF is the “pilot” bank and so I must use them for the construction mortgage. After the construction is finished I would be free to change to any other bank. So maybe this is fairly normal? Though perhaps the stage of construction makes a difference.
Coming from UK, I was surprised that you are expected to pay the full purchase deposit, and substantial interest for a year or more while construction is ongoing.
Thanks a lot Oliver! Have you managed to find any information if it is normal to have the bank “pilot”? I search in google but can’t find anything… So seems more to me the developer has some deals with the bank and we have to pay for it (?)