Hi all, we will be moving to switzerland, Baden end of Dec 2011 immediately after christmas. we are exploring the possibilities of renting an apartment from the 01Jan 2012 without being present in the country so that when we move in we move straight into the apartment. Is that possible?

One other thing that i have read on this forum is about taking on a lease from tenants moving out. how does that work? is there a place where i can see such properties listed? if there is a possibility we can take on the lease of someone moving out that would work best for us since we could also possibly buy the furniture/household items etc.

Any thoughts/views/advice would be of great help.

I suggest you wade your way through the Sticky on Housing. There is a lot in there but checking the relevant bits and other Threads you can find on here on the same subject might help you to avoid asking 300 questions to which the answers are already noted. Anyway the rule of thumb on EF is that at least 10% of the answers to any one question will apply to the poster but not to you.

As you started looking on here a couple of months ago, I expect you've seen that finding a place to rent in Switzerland is all too often not quite the same as finding somewhere in other countries. (British understatement!)

Good luck.

You can rent short term online from vacation rentals agencies say from 30 days. For example vrbo. com has properties in Switzerland. Property management / Real Estate companies in the canton of interest would be a good option as well

Thank you for responding. i have seen many posts here w.r.t rentals and i have my own fears about finding a place. one of the things i havent read too much about on this forum is how to find a house with the lease still on and you just transfer the lease. that looks the most appealing option to me and i am interested to know if anyone knows a site where such properties are listed.

I managed to rent from overseas but a word of warning - make sure the adverts you look at have photos, the wording on some is very misleading and be prepared to move once you get here. See the housing section for best sites

Concerning your suggestion of wanting to take over someones existing rental that is likely to be a difficult approach for a few reasons.

(i) the existing people will need to be able to do the exit interview with the owner/managing agent and get their deposit returned.
(ii) the owner reserves the right as to who they rent to and will want to check references etc, if you haven't arrived in the country they have limited guarantees you will arrive and be financial. They may want to even rent to someone else and they actually have every right to choose to do that and as the risk of someone already here and able to be checked out is easier.
(iii) have you got either an employers reference or a gemeinde financial record to prove you have no history of debt
(iv) If you are planning to take over a lease sight unseen then there is a good chance any damage will end up your responsibility after you move in if the prior people dont mention it.

If you are looking for something coming available at the time use www.homegate.ch as it sometimes shows when a place is available from.

The most likely situation is someone may be able to nominate you as the replacement tenants to move in if they are leaving outside the regular notice periods which are typically 6 months interavals at March and Sept each year. This would allow you to negotiate with the owner so that the prior tenants are released of their obligation to pay until a new tenant is found. You can then negotiate if the owner wants the same rate of rent or increased amount to what they were receiving.

PS: In most cases remember to bring your lights to instal aas the prior people need to take the existing ones with them usually.

This info may give you a little help,