Dunno where to put this other than here....

Very soon my husband and I will be going over to Zürich to do some "house-hunting" but from what we hear from the relocation agency - they seem rather "negative" about the fact that we want to rent a house, rather than an appartment or even a maisonette.

There´s five of us, with three kids and five water turtles to consider.

We are currently selling our house in Germany and are not keen to go back to living in an appartment especially when we have got so used to having the freedom of having our own place, drive and garden. And no tenants to consider!!

Needless to say, the agency says it is much more difficult to find a house to suit our needs and it looks like we might have to look further afield than the area of Zimmerberg or Konaueramt if we want to find a 4 bedroomed house with a garden.

Nevertheless, we want to find somewhere close enough to send our two older kids to one of the the international schools nearby. But we might have to compromise on location just to find the right house.

We have looked at the website of homegate.ch, and from what we see, there´s not much available to our specifications....and tend to be in unsuitable locations or are just way over our price range.

Anyone out there who have done summat similar successfully or even had to compromise on this and are happily living in appartments? I am already getting nervous at the thought of going over to Zürich and not finding anything we consider suitable for a family of five and pets...

Thanks Jane

P.s. even on this forum, I can´t even see any houses being advertised for rent..., only appartments - is it really a rarity here for people to rent anything else other than appartments....?

Zurich - either you'll get apartments....or houses out of your budget in the areas you really want.

Do your kids speak German? Do you absolutely want to send them to one of the I-schools?

Have you looked on comparis.ch? You can set your search parameters for single family houses only. There are very few of them available to rent, but when we were looking (in the past month or two) we did see a few for rent, so they are out there. But my guess is you will end up having to compromise on something that you want, just because the supply is so limited, the chances of getting something that will tick all your boxes will be smaller than in another country (in my opinion).

edited to add: to answer your other question, I think renting houses is very rare. Most houses seem to be owned/owner-occupied from what I understand.

Hi Jane,

I live in the Konaueramt area and it's a great place to live. There are lots more houses available around here than you would find in the city. It's also close to Zug and there is an International school there though the local schools are also really good.

Yes, they both were at the Grundschule in Germany but now that they both are going to the senior school, I am not so sure about them having a totally monolingual education...

But yeah, until we go and visit the International schools in November, we´d rather keep an open mind for now.....and see what they can offer our kids.

Hmm, not yet. Will have a look at comparis.ch.

And yeah, it looks that way, we will have to make some compromises somewhere, especially on location. Would be nice to be as close to the lake as possible but we would probably settle for some decent mountain views, further inland. Just as long as my husband doesn´t have to travel too far to get to Altstetten for work...

Hello

I just moved my office out of a house in Aeugst am Albis (in the Knonaueramt, near Affoltern am Albis). I needed to move my office to Zug, but this house is in a truly fantastic location. Low tax rates. Five minutes from shopping down the hill in Affoltern am Albis. Rural, quiet. About 100 meters from the local bus stop which runs to Affoltern and to Zürich Wiedikon.

The neighbors all speak English (and Swiss/High-German (and some of them French), kids aged 8 - 18. The mother is from Australia. The local school system is good (through 6th grade) and then the school is in Affoltern.

The location is rural, quiet, the house is very well built. There's a riding stable next door, the neighbors are fantastic.

I lived there for 18 years and had my office there for 6. (Divorce issues, or I'd still be there). The office building (the middle house of a three-family dwelling) has a full basement, washer/dryer. The ground floor has a large living/dining room and separate kitchen/dining area. There's a wood stove. The next floor has three bedrooms. The top floor is one large room with high wooden ceilings. Under-the-floor heating, heat-pump. The views are fantastic (from the front of the Albis and the Aeugstertal, behind across the Reusstal to Muri). Fantastic for a family. Can't say enough.

If you're interested, let me know, I'll get you a phone number.

...didn't see the lake reference: Just minutes from the Türlersee. (Warning for the primary-school kids: a *feature* of the Aeugst schools: The "Türlerseelauf" - gym class once a week runs the kids down the hill from Aeugst, around the lake and back again. The kids mumble but I've never heard of an older Aeugst *graduate* who didn't look back on it fondly).

We are a family of 6 who have recently moved to CH. We found that it was better to live outside the city and commute 40 minutes into Zurich, as a rule the Swiss don't commute! We found a farmhouse for the price of a two bed appartment in Zurich. The farmhouse is still a bit small for all of us, out in a small village but five minutes from a motorway junction. We are getting used to it after a couple of months and its working fine. I have opted to put my office in the cellar, which is very much not a Swiss thing to do.

Back again.

The owner of the house I was telling you about has posted a complete description online at homegate:

www.homegate.ch/homegate/detail?advertisementid=102138252

It's a great place (AND nearly always above the fog...). I'd have a look.

I saw this elsewhere - may be of use - no idea....
Andy

House For Sale

Built in 1990, modern, spacious and extremely airy; 5.5 + room single family home (250 sq. meters) in Kilchberg. Walking distance to the new high school and middle school; 3 – 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 3 car garage. Lot size is 758 sq. meters with nicely landscaped yard.

Please call Chris (076)415.32.42 or Pat (076)380.1600 for details!