You can also split it into 50% fixed-rate and 50% SARON (or whatever % you like), and switch the SARON to a fixed-rate matching the other tranche maturity when/if the rate looks good to you.
are currently locked into a “construction” mortgage until October at 1.7%
Where did you get such a rate if you don’t mind? I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t at least 1%p higher so far.
Nobody knows. You can either fix and get certainty on the rate or you could gamble. Maybe fixed rates go back to 0.75% again, or maybe they shoot up to 3%. You decide how much risk you want to take.
hi there
we shopped around for quite a while. We had offers from UBS, BLKB, Raiffeisen, Baloise. We took each offer and asked around.
Eventually we went with BLKB
Hi, I’m also in need of some advice.
My first deadline for the mortgage is coming up. The mortgage is divided in 2 tranches, one in 2025 and one in 2028. The tranche of 2028 is almost double the one in 2025. They are quite sizeable mortgages (this is the first time my mortgage deadline is up).
My current bank (one of the cantonal banks) offers very bad rates “on paper” (aka displayed online), but when I went and talked to me they offered a -0.35% discount. This puts them on par with the best offers that I have received from other banks and from tools like hypotheke.ch.
However, since the biggest mortgage for me is the one due in 2028, I wanted some kind of guarantee for the discount also being there for the 2028 tranche, which they told me they can’t do, because the market conditions of 2028 are too unknown and they can’t commit so far down the road. They told me that if things stays as it is, they should be able to offer it, but they can’t put anything on paper. On the other hand they know that if I commit to staying with them in 2025, then my hand is tied and I have to stay with them in 2028, which would give them all the leverage. The clerk I spoke with was very honest in this regard and I feel I can give some trust, but the discount and all these decisins are also not dependant directly on him. But the fact that it’s a cantonal bank might mean that maybe they are less prone to screwing clients.
On the other hand, all other financial institutions that told me they would accept me if I switch, told me that they too can’t tell me anything about the 2028 rate. But switching would also cause some extra costs and headaches: I’ll have to pay for the schuldbriefsplitting (anyone knows how much it is roughly?), and potentially have the bank re-evaluate my financial situation in 2028, which in a worst-case scenario (suppose me and my wife both lose our jobs exactly then) could be a problem, while my current bank wouldn’t re-evaluate anything, which gives nice peace of mind. The advantage would be that if I switch to a financial instution that constantly offers the best rates, I wouldn’t rely on their goodwill to make me a discount to get a good rate.
p.s. I don’t want to renew my 2025 tranche with saron or a short-fixed term to bring it closer to the 2028 one, because I don’t want to have the risk of having potentially high rates in 2028 on my entire mortgage (and I have a gut feeling the newest US developments will bring a new increase in inflation which will require the interest rates to go back up again in the next 2-3 years).
My goal is to have a good rate (it means it shouldn’t be the absolute best, but also not close to the worse ones) and predictability in my rate payments, to have some stability and peace-of-mind.
Thank you for your thoughts!
Fix 3 years. Then shop around in 2027/2028.
And if you’re not happy with the rates in 2028, take a short term SARON then too and shop again once you are happy with them.
Edit: the risk is being “stuck” with a SARON on the longer term with not agreeable enough fixed term rates but what is happening is the direct consequence of having 2 slices of mortgage ending on a different term. My priority would be to end this situation and have the two slices end at the same time.
There are no miracles and your situation was analyzed many times. Your best option is to consolidate both tranches and be flexible to change to any provider offering a better rate.
I think you’re confusing me with someone else. I asked before in general about having 2 tranches 3 years apart, but never with the specifics of the rates I was offered (since I didn’t knew them yet).
And to everyone saying “fix 3 years and shop around in 2028, and if rates are bad, go saron until they are good”, in the past there have been cases of high inflation being cyclical, I also expect it to increase again because of US policies. For me ending up with a 3-3.5% on my full mortgage in 2028 would be very impactful (in a negative way obviously)
I am not really sure why everyone is suggesting it: risk of having the “best” rate in 2028 on my full mortgage, with that “best” rate maybe being 3%, against having 1.5% now and maybe a +0.3% against whatever the “best” rate of 2028 will be (so maybe 3.3%). I just don’t get it honestly, can anyone enlighten me? Seem high-risk low-reward to be honest. Or low-upside high-downside.
Every situation is unique and each person reacts different when the market is moving. I did a 10 year mortgage with 0,8% like 3-4 years ago, so that before I am 60 years of age I can decide what to do futher. At that time every body was questioning my desition of such a long fixed mortgage. Some banks are looking at you differently financially, once you reached 60+, so that was my main driver.
You really have 2 choices:
You are in this unfortunate position since you split the mortgage without paying off the first tranche, so you always end up at the mercy of the current provider.
Given you don’t want to risk having a bad rate in 2028 for the whole amount, you could fix at the lowest you can for now and hope for the best in 2028. It’s only 2 years away so not too far away.
I don’t think changing provider is an option since most banks have a clause that you pay all the interest to 2028 in case of early termination.
I picked up the mortgage and provider from the seller of the house 
It’s not about rates, it’s about flexibility and being able to tell FU to your mortgage provider. Cantonal bank or not, they care about their profits, not about what is best for you. Same with the previous owners: they had own interests in that deal.
This sounds as if your upside is much less impactful than your downside (and rates in 2028 could also be higher than 3.5%).
You can still take a 10y tranche and a 7y tranche in 2028 to align your mortgage duration.
Hi all - another question. Apparently pillar 2 and 3a can be withdrawn every 5 years for home ownership. If I were to take a mortgage in 2025 by using these two pillars, can I withdraw these pillars again in 2030 to reduce mortgage amount? If this allowed or is it a grey area from taxation perspective? assuming I don’t do voluntary purchases in pillar 2
Well, yes, that is exactly what you wrote. However I understand your anxiety and a reply from a random forum user isn’t worth much. Therefore I suggest to call your cantonal tax office and confirm.
And make sure that they understand that you mean “allowed” in the sense “doesn’t incur a tax penalty (besides the normal withdrawal tax)” 
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