Right then folks, as our Northern American amigos would say having once again butchered the language...fact me up!

In other words, where the hell is decent to live round here? Coming from the big Z, new job between Neu and Bern, going to need somewhere to live.

Whats the deal? Where are the decent places, prices, etc, etc.

Something around a grand to fifteen hundred chuffs.

Is it worth going up into the hills? That Choux place or is it all a bit Norfolk up there?

I am moving up to La Chaux-De-fonds after spending over 2 years in Neuchatel city centre. It's about 30 minutes by train...but there are some very nice big and fancy apartments which are very cheap up there.

Best thing to do is take your new workplace as the starting point and then work out from there, depending on how you're planning to get to/from work.

Four websites to try are:
www.immoscout24.ch
www.immostreet.ch
www.home.ch
www.homegate.ch

You can usually set what type of property you're after, how far away from the starting point you want the site to consider, etc.

La-Choux-Fonds is nice, but if your workplace is nearer to Bern than Neuchatel it'll be a long way to travel, especially in wintertime.

Alternatively, think about the area around Bienne as that's pretty much equi-distant between Neuchatel and Bern.

I'd say Bienne and area is your best bet. La Chaux-de-Fonds would be a total pain if you work between Neuch and Bern. For your money you should get something really nice. Le Landeron, Morat (Murten) are good candidates. Neuchatel is a very nice small town - and to the East, villages like St Blaise and Hauterive very pleasant.

On Radio Fribourg today, they were singing the praises of how Kanton Fribourg was cheaper to live than it's neighbouring Kantons of Bern and Wadt (Vaud), according to a study/report on Comparis - although there was no mention of Neuchatel.

Mürten and environs is probably worth considering.

Neuchatel is the most expensive then Bern, Vaud & Fribourg in that order. But if you don't pay at sources you can get good communes between Vaud & Fribourg.

If you work between Neuchatel & Bern then canton Fribourg is a good option.

Murten would be nice if there were anything available IN the village. Outside isn't very nice. It's all horrible apartment blocks.

Yes, that's another possibility TiMow. It's not too bad to get to either Bern or Neuchatel from Murten area. Just have to make sure the places you're looking at are actually in Fribourg canton and not Vaud. You can switch between the two quite easily in places. But most of the websites allow you to specify canton so it shouldn't be too much of a problem when property hunting on the Internet.

Taxes are not the only factor to consider. What is the point of paying less taxes, if it means that everything else, including accommodation, is more expensive

Although the radio was running in the background as I was doing other things, if I heard correctly, one of the contributory factors from Comparis was that property letting and purchase costs were less in FR. than in BE. and VD.

Group E (electricity) have also reduced their tariffs, in real terms, if I recall correctly.

Food and comsumer product costs should be pretty uniform across the board, depending on outlets used.

Petrol can be cheaper too, even saving a few francs on each fill up helps. You can find quite a few garages that are below the normal prices if you know where to look to make it even cheaper.

Depends what you like. Neuchatel is pretty, a nice size, a great lake in the summer, decent shopping, football stadium, lots of festivals, etc and temperate climate. It is pricier than La Chaux de Fonds, which is less charming and quite a bit colder, though sunnier in the winter.

... but no football club any more

A football stadium is no good without a team to play in it.

Yes... anyone want my season ticket at a slightly discounted price?

So Murten and Fribourg are the best bets? Well done chappesses.

Canton Friboug which Murten is in. The city of Friboug is about an hours commute.


Except that it's not.

Staying on the "Murten and surrounding area" theme, if you need easy access to both Neuchâtel and Bern, also look at places like Kerzers, Ins and Gampelen. All of these have good road and train connections to Neuchâtel and Bern, and seem to be attractimg more and more commuters from both towns.

Right then folks, thanks for the links. I had been using homegate and was starting to despair as I couldnt really see these great places for great value dosh that folk were saying. All looked a bit Zurich-ish to be honest.

But immoscout has come up trumps and brought some *blinding* properties into view. Un shortlist has been drawn up. 5+ rooms, 120m+ for 1200 chuffs? And swimming pools? Oh this could be fuuun

Just be careful - some of these sites have scams on them. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. No harm in investigating it, but be sensible and don't hand any money over without being sure it's safe!

These are the areas I would be looking in too as they're on the rail link from Neuchâtel to Bern and have reasonably priced property. (they are in Canton Bern though so although lower taxes than Neuchâtel they'll be higher than Fribourg)
I don't know if language is an issue but these are predomonantly German speaking areas.

I think La Chaux-de-Fonds would be too difficult a commute especially in winter.