How long did it take you to find a suitable place to rent and move in in Switzerland?

Is there something like a waitlist or could you just get a place as long as you are not too picky?

Thanks

One week from phone call to visit. Filled out application that day. One week later received positive response. Made arrangements with SwissCaution (that was a bit tedious). Moved in first of the month.

Easy as pie.

It took us about 2 weeks but it all depends. Some places have lots of applicants but if you can prove enough income & have a good reference from a previous landlord you should be able to find something. All depends on your budget too.

It's a free market and it's up to you to find a place. The more you can afford to pay, the easier it is (duh). There is no "housing authority" that assigns you a place to live (possibly unless you're on the social).

isn't rent subsidy available to those with lower incomes?

I don't necessarily agree with that. It more depends on where you are living and what requirements you have (and a bit on when in the year you are looking to move in). For example, Zurich is very difficult to find housing in all the time b/c you always have multiple applicants for the same place and most of the time, the landlord will go with a Swiss person and/or the applicant who makes the most money. Zurich has something like 99% occupancy and the 1% happens to be the couple days a year that they are re-painting or doing small renovations to a place before a new tenant moves in. But if you live outside of Zurich or any of the other "big" cities, it is much easier and quite straightforward.

Personally, I lived outside Zurich for the first year and loved (and got) the first place I applied for--so total processing time was less than two weeks. When I moved into Zurich, I was living with a friend and we looked at around 10 places before we got one and started looking months before we actually needed to move. It took more than one month to find a place that we liked and where we received a positive response from the landlord. Then it took another month to move in.

How far outside Zurich do you need to go before it gets easier to find somewhere?

Outside Zone 10...

It's taken me a couple of months to find somewhere in Zurich, but I haven't really been rushing (new job has taken a lot of my energy). I would recommend getting a feel for the market first if you can. I think luck plays a big part, and how picky you are as well - there are apartments out there, but also a lot of people looking.

I agree that there may be less competition for more expensive apartments, but also there may be cheaper apartments with certain aspects that will put other people off (and you can live with). The apartment I got is nice, in a good location, not stupidly expensive for Zurich but I saw it had been relisted on Homegate, so can't have been that much interest the first time around...

How are zones 50 - 56?

My bf lives in zone 50 and he said the place he is living in now is the first place he looked at.

How far out is zone 50 and zone 10? How long does it take to get into Zurich and is there public transport?

Thanks

I work in Schlieren (54) and wanted to live close. I looked at a number of places and applied for 3 - 2 in Dietikon and 1 in Schlieren - and got all 3. This was within the space of a week, 2 days of visits and then application when back in the UK. The place I chose was happy to e-mail me the contract and I printed it out, signed it and mailed it back.

If you look at a map from ZVV or SBB it will show you were all the zones are and what the public transport options are.

I live in zone 50 just one stop outside zone 10. Including my 400m walk to the station (and the fact that the S4 stops at EVERY station) it takes 20 minutes in to HB. Which is just as long as it takes the S2 (and the IRs) to get from Wadenswil, which is zone 52 and 3 zones out of zone 10, to get to HB. It's not so much the distance as it is train frequency and type of train.

It took my husband almost three months. About 50 phone calls. A dozen viewings. Two applications, one of which was successful, and then waiting one month to move in (even though the suite was empty and ready.)

Good luck.

When I fiirst came here, i got my Swiss based IT agent to look for furnished accommodation that was near to my work, and the airport. I flew in Sunday night, and moved straight in.

Having said that, when I decided to stay, and look for an unfurnished place of my own, i was looking at a couple of places a week, for around 3/4 months, but ultimately got somewhere via word of mouth.
Homegate appears to be one of the better rental agencies.
But letters (not the agent) generally go for more secure lettees, ie. someone that is Swiss, or has long term permit, because they don't want to risk it being empty, if your work is not extended, or you choose to leave, and they cant find someone new.

Check with colleagues and friends. Check places on this forum, as well as Homegate, but keep your ear to the ground.
Good luck

If you are going to be working for a company here, they can often help set up viewings. We had 12 places to view set up before we arrived. We looked on a Thursday, signed on a Friday and moved in that Monday. If you can get your company to push them and the place is vacant, things can move quickly. One big factor is where you are moving. We moved in the Thun area, which is less competitive because of location. Zurich and Geneva will be much harder.

See attached for zone separations in and around Zurich canton. Zone 10 = downtown Zurich. You go about 15-20 minutes by public transportation from the Zurich main station (in the middle of zone 10), and you are most likely in another zone.

There is always public transport all over Switzerland--always! The frequency with which trains, trams, buses, boats, etc. run is very different. This you will need to do a bit of research about on your own.

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