Yeah I agree they are good enough. I’m curious if what I’ll be offered will be similar to what was obtainable in August, because the govt yields are at the august low.
At least the ZKB 10y swap rates look like they dropped substantially today at 0.4225 from their website.
the quote i’m getting is still in ~ 1.5 for 10y.
I don’t think my lender is very aggressive (even though the market dropped 0.10 since I last asked, they are only offering 0.02 better today) 
Might be true that their end of year targets are reached…
I’ve got the answer and that’s 1.4% for 10 years which is what they quoted me during last summer ^^. It seems they indeed raised their margins since the swap rates went down substantially since then.
I got offered 1.33% for 10 years and 0.83% margin for SARON for a forward sale in summer of 2025. I am considering taking the SARON now and will change to fixed rate at the time of moving in.
hypotheke.ch is now quoting 1.25 for 10 years.
congrats on the purchase 
sounds like a good plan, im curious, 1.33% seems like a good rate for fixed, and if you are going fixed when you move in why wouldn’t you take it now? I don’t think you take on any risk if the deal doesn’t go through but I’m not entirely sure.
Looking at the numbers I see here, 1.33% is indeed a good rate for 10 years fixed. I think I still hope to get a better rate by the time of moving in, because:
I think most lenders do not charge a forward markup if the sale/mortgage transfer is within 6 months. Does anyone else have an opinion on this? @HoiZame ?
Agreed. I think consensus is 0.25 cut mid-dec, maybe another march or june.
Check the term on the SARON.
If you are planning to take a 10y in 6 months rather than today - you are betting 10y rates will stay the same or go down in that timeframe (irrespective of SNB policy rates). Your bet is as good as mine.
Fair point. 2025 is close enough. And might be worth waiting at least until closing date minus 6-months (to see if that eliminates the forward markup).
In general the system will always compute the forward rate and the bank / advisor may decide to override the value. Based on the interest rate curve configurations a 6 month forward might be expensive. So what you say may be true in most cases but there’s always some exception.
One thing with forward tranches is to make sure you are not too early with the payout date because you might get charged interests from the agreed payout date even if the bank has not released the funds because for instance your construction project is delayed…
Rates dropping fast now. Another drop today. I got my bank appointment on Wednesday 
PhilMongoose effect in action again. You can all thank me and buy me a beer! 
Today we have visited a house that fits our criteria. But it’s a bit above our price range. We earn around 182 kCHF/year, so if we max the 20%, we can buy a 1,050 kCHF house with 250 kCHF cash (10% cash + 10% 2nd/3rd pillar + fees) and have a mortgage of 860 kCHF. Now what we need for our house is 1,250 kCHF, so I will need to sell 200 kCHF worth of VT to get that house (+ the 10% needed).
I have 3 questions:
Is there any way to have a larger mortgage with the same salary? Meaning, for example, that the bank tests your capacity with a lower rate than the conventional 5% or any other tricks?
I have seen that the lowest rate we can get today is with Migros Bank for a 2-year mortgage (0.99%). What will happen to my mortgage in 2 years if I decide to stop working? Will I be able to renew my mortgage? Or do I have to plan to lock in a 10/15-year mortgage just before I stop working?
Is it smart to have a succession of small mortgages (1/2/3 years) in order to evaluate if you want to change one day to SARON or a long-term mortgage? Or is it not that smart because you would have tons of fees each time you renew your mortgage?
Question 1: Is it possible to get a larger mortgage with the same salary?
Yes, there are some strategies that could help you increase the amount of your mortgage. For example:
Question 2: What happens to my mortgage if I stop working in 2 years?
In principle, any significant change in your financial situation (such as a reduction in your working percentage or stopping work altogether) must be reported to your bank. This could trigger a reassessment of your debt-to-income ratio.
However, in practice, this reassessment usually occurs only when the mortgage is up for renewal. If you choose a short-term contract (e.g., 2 years with Migros Bank), you’ll need to negotiate a new mortgage at the end of that term. If you no longer have a salary at that point, it could become problematic, as banks will recheck your repayment capacity.
To mitigate this risk, a prudent approach would be to lock in a fixed-rate mortgage for a longer term (10–15 years) before you stop working. This would ensure stability in your mortgage conditions until the contract’s end, even if your financial situation changes.
Question 3: Is it smart to take a series of short-term mortgages?
Opting for short-term mortgages can offer flexibility and allow you to evaluate your options (e.g., switching to SARON or a fixed rate later). However, there are some key points to consider:
To avoid these issues, two strategies might be worth considering:
Thank you for the quick and detailed response that answers all my questions.
However, the mechanisms related to borrowing become problematic as soon as one stops working. This somewhat calls into question the principle of being FIRE.
It depends on your assets as well. Some banks use 7-8% of your net wealth as fictional income to calculate mortgage affordability.
My strategy is to lock in a long term mortgage prior to retirement that way, the problem is kicked 10 years down the line and the worst case, I can pay off the mortgage in 10 years time if I can’t refinance it.
It made me curious as to how much mortgage debt I should plan to keep by age / retirement goals. I asked GPT for this one.
IMO, it is best to have no mortgage in retirement so that you reduce the amount of income you need to pay the mortgage - this reduces the volatility and so the amount you need in retirement. Of course, getting funds to pay off the mortgage delays retirement, so if you want an early retirement you have to trade off the two.
Back to 1.3% today. They do have a little online calculator, asking for price, mortgage and income. Of the few times I checked with some figures, it seemed plausible, like best offer for good values (60% loan with 20% affordability), average offers for bad values (80% loan with 35%) and no offers for ugly values.
Other times, the prices shown are pretty close, e.g. 1.39% (best offer maybe 2 weeks ago) for good values, 1.41% for bad values.
Is that any indication? Or could anyone with an attractive offer add their rough financials associated with those?
For me it’s hard to evaluate whether I could get a better rate when switching to fixed, or if those are reserved for customers with different financials or other business with the bank beyond standard accounts and 3a.
What you get with a broker is typically a rate negotiated with their bank counterparts based on your profile and they basically replicate in their simulator what pricing policy they are given by the banks they work with. In some cases if the broker is good he can negotiate on your behalf and get you something better but if you want the best possible offer you have to negotiate directly, at least that’s what I saw when implementing pricing policies at the banks I worked for where the contact medium (i.e. either you come directly or through a third party) is usually part of that pricing policy and add some spread to the final rate.
Depending on their level advisors usually have discretionary discounts that they can give to clients and while your conditions surely drive the initial calculation of the offer there is a lot of freedom if you have a good relationship with the bank employee who can either give you a discount directly or ask their boss to grant you theirs…
