I think you need to know that you can’t go wrong, regardless of your choice. Don’t buy it because you think it’s a great opportunity, but because you need it - there will always be more opportunities, you are not missing anything if you wait. However, prices is Switzerland will always increase for real estate so if you are sure you want to buy at some point a house in Switzerland, now is not a bad moment. Even if you want to sell later, you will get your investment back, even more considering property value appreciation. How long do you plan to stay here? If you want to stay for life, you can buy it with no regrets. If you plan to retire in 10 years somewhere else, maybe not, maybe. If you are considering staying here for life but paying rent for life, again, math changes.
Ehm no? Real estate prices will not always increase, what about the 1990s? This thinking is exactly part of why we had a global financial crisis in 2008…
That’s not guaranteed at all, you can lose money, especially if you are forced to sell at an unlucky time.
Long term, the price is always increasing. If you isolate specific correction periods, even of a decade, well that is normal and it happens to any asset class, ie the lost decade on S&P500. But hanging on this logic makes you question investing in anything, as there will always be fluctuations and corrections on any asset class. Again, normal.
Again, valid for any asset class, it’s a risk you presumably assume by default when investing (in anything).
You can’t compare the S&P 500 to the price of a single house in Switzerland. You’d need to compare it to a single stock. E.g. Lehman Brothers was also in the S&P 500 
in fact many companies in the S&P 500 will cease to exist in 2-3 decades and others will take their place.
While real estate prices may increase for all swiss houses combined in the long-term, this definitely doesn’t need to be the case for an individual house. Could be that the neighborhood changes and suddenly it’s not an attractive location anymore, or they build 10 similar houses next to it and suddenly there’s oversupply or any other reason that may make this particular house unattractive. I’m not judging OPs case here, that’s just a general remark.
Yes I know, but that’s not how you stated it. From your statement it was clear that “you’ll always get your investment back and even more due to property valuations increasing”, which may be true in many cases, but it’s not the only thing that can happen.
The long term appreciation is the only way forward, and is what history confirms as the general trend. Otherwise, you will never buy any house, as any individual house can become unattractive, or devaluate for any other reason. Buy you can’t use this as an argument to not buy a house - it’s too vague and just not enough, especially in a country like Switzerland, where the land and property is very limited and expensive. It just can’t go down long term, unless the country goes bankrupt. If forced to sell at a specific point at a loss, that can happen also for stocks, but again, the alternative to prevent this is to stay in cash just in case? No way. The premises for real estate appreciation are better in Switzerland as in the vast majority of other countries. My point is, you are taking a risk when investing in anything, but I’ll take anytime this one versus any other. Historically, real estate is the most used source for wealth increase.
It’s unlikely to happen in a city center but some events can reduce the value of the land and constitute real long term losses in real estate (the point being one should assess the risk of them occurring when selecting the asset they want to invest in):
New zoning taking the parcel out of the buildable area. In some cases, it can happen to already built land.
Newly mapped natural hazard (in some cases and depending on the Canton, the responsability to either secure them or deal with them can befall to the land owner instead of the authorities).
Discovery of poluted soils that require expensive sanitation.
As already mentioned, change in the attractiveness of the neighbourhood.
Others.
For as much as we push people toward investing in real estate in Switzerland, it is really a market that benefits from specific knowledge to avoid potential pitfalls.
Edit: this is not to discourage Goyero from buying his dream house. It seems it would be a very enjoyable place and may very well be the right choice for him/you (it does sound so in reading you, at least). These occurrences are rare but when considering real estate as an investment, it’s important to keep in mind, as stated by Burningstone that it is a single asset, with quite some concentration in it (most risks can be insured against but not 100% of them).
Regarding real estate in Switzerland: [quote=“Wolverine, post:26, topic:11879”]
it is really a market that benefits from specific knowledge to avoid potential pitfalls.
[/quote]
I 'd be very interested to learn more! Maybe you would be open to share in a new thread sometime, Wolverine ?
I’m still an amateur regarding real estate investments. I’ve just seen a few difficult situations happen from the communal technical/constructions service side of things. Most people can handle their investment and benefit from it. Some people don’t have the required liquidity to deal with sudden legal or technical requirements that can strike them out of the blue. Mostly, it’s important to know what you actually own and are responsible for (tap water/sewer pipes, private road, forest/trees that can pose a threat to your neighbours, …). The appartment/house itself is a boon but some infrastructures come with costs that must be anticipated and maintenance that must be done.
From a zoning point of view, my perspective comes from Valais/Wallis where, while some (most) communes have themselves done the mistake of making buildable areas in places that should never have been so, the current legal framework supports them when/if they try to correct that. You won’t have much trouble inside the built space (inside a village/town/city) but border and outside areas can be reclassified and should be considered carefully before buying. In particular, cheap properties in agricultural areas come with way less responsibilities from society and (way) more from the private owners: the cheap price is not only a boon and one should walk into a deal with their eyes open.
That being said, geological hazards are currently being reassessed in Valais/Wallis, some areas even inside the villages are being affected by a high hazard level and won’t be able to be fully secured, so will face limitations in what can be built/renovated on them in the coming times. Do check the maps for the parcels you are interested in before buying. If a specific map doesn’t exist, assess whether you could be exposed to danger and/or if the commune could realistically argue that you should be responsible for equipping/securing your parcel instead of that being done by the community.
There are too many special cases to enumerate. On a general basis and in a non-comprehensive way:
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for appartments in co-ownership, do check the rules of the co-ownership and get a general feeling of the mindset of the other co-owners. Some are not willing to spend a frank doing required maintenance, some can be a pain to deal with and will defend some specific (real or alledged) privilege to the death. For older buildings, check the yearly participation to the renovation fund, those costs come on top of whatever other price you had planned to pay.
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do check ownership of local infrastructures. If they’re private, check in with their owners to make sure they have a positive mindset (some try to use it as leverage and are a real pain to deal with). If you would be a part owner of them, check how they are maintained and what would be your responsibilities/costs for it.
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do check how you are getting utilities. If not from the public network (private spring, private wastewater treatment, private electricity production, …), check the age of the infrastructure and how secure its input is. We’ve had dry years recently where some usually plentiful springs have run dry, replacing that input can be costly.
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do check the administrative situation of your parcel:
Public Law Restrictions may exist (Swiss PLR Cadastre | cadastre.ch)
If the commune hasn’t recently redone its zoning and construction law, they are actively working on it (due to the changes in the Spatial Planning Act following the 2013 votation) and the situation may change.
If it is close (10m for no restrictions, 5m under conditions) to the forest (as mapped, even if there are no trees, or from trees that could get classified as forest), you may not be able to build near it.
If natural hazard maps haven’t been redone recently, new hazards may be mapped in the future.
If it is in a fringe situation, it may be taken out of the buildable land area (or adjacent areas could be reclassified as noisy artisanal/industrial areas, for example). Usual criteria to be kept classified as buildable land are equipment of the parcel, absence of natural hazards, access to public transportation and infrastructures. Other criteria can be used and the communes have a lot of leeway as to how they want to tackle the situation.
Most informations can be found on cantonal map portals: Géoportails cantonaux :: KGK-CGC (link in fr, language can be switched on the top right corner of the site).
The communal map portal should also be checked, in particular for anything related to zoning.
Can you guys tell me how we properly calculate the savings rate that it is comparable? Sometimes I read before tax/after tax, sometimes with or without the pillars… what is the Swiss way of calculating it?
Cheers
I am very aware that at that age, my kids would probably prefer to stay here, but who knows? Maybe they will be willing to move to Spain, maybe not. For sure, I would not force them, and I will stay close to them. Maybe I will have to wait until the youngest reaches 18-20 years old and then be able to move to Spain, or try to live 4-5 months here and the rest of the year there. I really don’t know. But yes, you are right, the main concern will be the children at that age.
Yes, the apartment is very attractive in the rental market around Schaffhausen. Sure, I would like to rent it, but since a similar place was rented a few months ago for more than 2.6K/month, I would prefer to buy it for such an amount. Yes, we will get 72% of the price as a mortgage, and due to the pledging, we will not have amortization
No, we haven’t. But during the last few weeks, we have been there at different times of the day, and yes, there are plenty of kids. Also, the surroundings are very nice for them, with a few pedestrian streets and a playground
I tried to read the regulations, or better translated, it looks like you can do whatever you want, from planting a new tree to making a little farm. No mention about barbacue. Anyway, probably a wood/charcoal barbecue is not a good idea. I think grill barbecues are not banned anywhere outside in Switzerland, even on terraces. And we saw the neighbor has one in his garden
No, idea… we haven’t seen them…
Yes, in fact, we have been able to reduce the asking price by the amount we will have to contribute for common renovations that are already agreed upon by the neighbors.
We’ve finally decided to purchase the apartment and have already made the reservation. I liquidated nearly half of my VT position last Monday at 106.10, almost perfectly timing the market with an average cost of around 90. So, no regrets for the moment.
The decision was primarily emotional. I believe we will be happier in the new house. The extra space and garden will bring joy, and the springs and summers by the Rhein will be amazing with the little ones. My kids are thrilled and want to move there already. They don’t mind that they’ll have to change schools from the next academic year; they just can’t wait. My wife is overjoyed, to say the least!
So, what else can I say? We’ll see what the future holds. For now, I will focus on the present, saving for the future but also striving to enjoy the present more.
Congratulations and enjoy it! 
There is not really a “Swiss way”, therefore a number without details isn’t comparable.
The topic has been discussed here: Savings rate calculation - Investing / Others - Mustachian Post Community
I personally do it like this:
CH: savings / take home salary
US: savings / (take home salary - taxes)
DE: savings / (take home salary - taxes - health insurance)
Some also add second pillar contributions as savings.
From own experience who has moved several times into different countries in my younger years I think people have way too many worries there. On the contrary it helped me to be less introvert and more able to engage with new people and new environments.
That’s nice. Contrags. Don’t consider it as a huge commitment. It is more flexible than you think. You are not tied to it.
- Rent it out , if you find a better place to live.
- Sell it, if you find new investment opportunity.
Simple as that.
Congratulations, I hope you all enjoy the new place and eventually replenish your stock holdings and 2nd pillar in the next years.
With all the excitement, I’d still recommend (if you care) to get some additional offers for the mortgage and earmark some money for the capital withdrawal taxes and purchases like furniture or tools you may or may not need.
Thanks! we’re working with Money Park right now. They seem to be charging a fair price, but only time will tell if we made the right call. It feels like they’re swamped with work, especially the guy who’s handling our case. We’ve got a meeting with the notary in the second week of March. Seeing how busy they are, I thought I’d check with my bank, PostFinance, just in case. But they said they can’t make an offer because the notary meeting is less than a month away and they need at least a month’s heads up. I’m really hoping Money Park pulls through and we get all the mortgage stuff sorted before the meeting.
Thanks for sharing that! I actually moved to a new city when I was just 10 years old. Luckily, I didn’t face any problems, but it was definitely something that had me worried
Indeed, it does sound simple 
if possible, please also share your experience in bidding, first and/or second round bidding and thoughts behind the bid Such experience and thoughts behind it is always helpful.