One thing you mentioned, and that as far as I am aware is incorrect, is that you can keep the house when you leave the country. You don’t have to sell emergency style, but within a “reasonable” period e.g. 6 months. So not enough time to ride out a slump in the market if there is one.
(Source: me having read about it and asking the notary when we bought in the canton of Zurich on a B/ C permit respectively)
We own RE (only apartments, no houses as those seemed worse as a rental ) in my (EU) home country and rent those out. Prices have gone up so much that I wouldn’t currently consider buying a rental anywhere in Europe (outside of perhaps Italy, but ultimately no clue how things work there and not enough time to dig in). Unless of course with dumb luck I find a great deal
Edit: changed “county” to “country” to avoid confusion
Are you saying one MUST sell the house after leaving the country? I have been always counting on the fact that I could keep the house if/when I leave. Maybe you still have a link or something?
I can’t comment for all permit holders, however in our situation (carte de legitimation in Geneva / Vaud), the guidance we found says:
The acquisition of a principal residence by a holder of a legitimation card is no longer subject to certain conditions and obligations. Through the easing of the federal Law on the Acquisition of Property by Foreigners (LFAIE), persons eligible to acquire a property are no longer subject to:
** the obligation to prove continuous residence for the period of a year in order to purchase property;*
**** the obligation to sell within two years when they no longer reside in the property;***
** the interdiction to dispose of the property within five years of its acquisition.*
The link does not specify whether this applies when you’re completely leaving Switzerland, or just when you’re moving within the country, no? My understanding is that when you leave fully you have to get rid of it eventually.
However as said, that was the info given to me, but that may have been wrong or only applying in certain circumstances. The notary did mention it had happened only once in the last few years here (ZH) that someone had to sell.
Probably best to talk to the cantonal authorities wherever one intends to buy and get the official answer Just wanted to give you a hint that there may be further things to consider
I wouldn’t think anyone would force you to sell your private property in any way.
You might lose the right to conditional mortgages (like financing a primary residency), and therefore banks might knock for more coverage, but that’s all.
Actually, this depends for real estate. A lot of countries have limitations of foreign entities (persons/companies) buying up land/real estate to reduce predatory speculative buying. So better to make due diligence before.
I did some googling. I couldn’t find anything ‘government’, but I did find a SwissInfo (english version of RTS/SRF): Buying property - SWI swissinfo.ch.
If you scroll down it says “If you move, it is not compulsory to sell the property. The owner may continue to use it as a secondary or holiday residence, or even rent it to third parties.”
However, if anyone has specifics on the topic, it would be interesting. If there was a force to sell, that would be a game-changer.
By the way, I asked my bank (one of the big Swiss banks where we obtained pre-approval), they said no problem to move and still keep the loan. I found this interesting as I had heard contrary information regarding mortgages.
As a non-EU citizen with a B permit, you are allowed to purchase a single property in Switzerland for sole use as your primary residence.
When you purchase the property, you are required to submit a form stating that the property will be used as your primary residence. A renter registering as being resident in the property contradicts the statement that the property is used as your primary residence.
While the above rule applies countrywide, further rules detailing ownership of property by foreigners vary between cantons and even municipalities. If you are planning to leave Switzerland, contact your municipal office and explain the situation. They will inform you as to your options.
Doing some more research. I may have stumbled upon something that would be very impactful (positively negatively) for Swiss RE.
If you make 10% of your deposit using Pillar 2, (which was our plan)… if you leave Switzerland for whatever reason, and on the assumption it is permanent… it seems you would be under some obligation / issues as the Pillar 2 was meant to be for permanent residence, and you can only leave the property for ‘temporary reasons’. But if you leave the country, I don’t think that is ‘temporary’ :).
I guess if you leave to a non-EU country, it isn’t a big issue as you could just cash it out. But, if you go to an EU country, it may seem problematic as it is meant to go to a vested account or your primary residence, and therefore you could have a big bill.
Am I reading this right? hmmmm.
Hi, I didn’t follow the whole topic but I see you mentioned St-Cergue ? What do you like about St-Cergue that made you think you want to live there?
I lived more than 10 years there as a kids and teenager and would not consider going back to live there, especially not if the only reason is that it’s the only place less than 1h from Geneva that is somewhat affordable.
If you anyway want to buy there I might know someone that will sell there soon, independent villa, close to train station with nice land around. You can PM me if interested.
I think this reinforces what I always thought. If you are to buy RE in Switzerland you need to have somehow 35-40% or more covered. Then you raise a mortgage for 10% cash / 10% pillar 2. If you need to leave you have 10% handy and in case house depreciates and you get margin call you have capital too
hi, did you do any further investigation on the AirBnB model? We are looking at buying a building with 4-6 flats in Lisbon, Portugal to make it a short rental “side hustle”. not necessarily AirBnB but we thikn we can do well with a property manager part time and I think I can generate demand with a website (I am have some experience in this part)
Pretty cool, please keep us informed how that works. I’m still interested in such a investment but I look more into Spain. However, after doing the maths the return does not look so great and there are a lot of regulations both for long term tenants as well as for AirBnB.
Hi,
Portugal is a very interesting, and in my opinion, a very good market.
However, there are some additional complexities with short-term licenses. In Portugal they are called AL (Alojamento Local) licenses. You need these to be able to legally rent short-term, regardless of platform.
In general these are easy to get… except if you are in an area of “contestação”. Also for Lisbon specific, please note the current suspension of new licenses in specific areas: Rental licences suspended in Lisbon - The Portugal News
Also important. If a property is advertised as having an AL licence, it does not transfer to the new buyer. It is lost. If there is a suspension, or a restricted area, it is near impossible to obtain a new one.
I do not recall the cut-off of what is a short-term vs a long-term rent. I think it is 6 months, but check this. Also, if you rent a short-term property over a certain period, you lose your AL license.
On the other side, there are huge tax savings for AL license properties in Portugal. Google “simplified tax regime Portugal”, or here is an article from AirBnb https://assets.airbnb.com/help/airbnb-pwc-taxguide-portugal-en.pdf
If you don’t rent short-term, your tax for a ‘long-term’ rental will generally be 28% in Portugal. Long term rental contracts generally favor the tenant, but not as much as Switzerland in my opinion (with some exceptions).
As usual… check the above as I am going by memory and laws change, and there are exceptions, etc.
Another advantage is that in Portugal, you can easily get a mortgage if you have a Swiss income. Most of the major PT banks have offices in Geneva. Get a good lawyer. The buying process is not like Switzerland at all. Google this - plenty of articles
Good luck. There are interesting opportunities in Portugal. As FYI to the topic of this generla overall discussion, we have decided to invest more outside of Switzerland (we already own a couple of properties and are about to buy another). The yields and capital growth are just so much higher. Plus you can get mortgages with very low rates and very long term fixed rates. It’s good maths!
Re: Spain. I know less about. 2 things I don’t like though:
You have much less protection against squatters. Plenty of articles about this online.
When I last checked, if you are non-EU, you have worse tax rates and you can’t make the same deductions. I don’t know if there are exceptions for Swiss (I’m not Swiss or EU so I didn’t look).
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) in my (EU) home country and rent those out. Prices have gone up so much that I wouldn’t currently consider buying a rental anywhere in Europe (outside of perhaps Italy, but ultimately no clue how things work there and not enough time to dig in). Unless of course with dumb luck I find a great deal 
Just wanted to give you a hint that there may be further things to consider