Hi All,

My husband and I are currently living in Winterthur at the moment, but looking to move to Zurich. Since it's just the two of us plus we're only going to be here for a couple of years, we just want a 1.5 - 2 room apartment.

But as we found out from our househunting experience so far, most real estate agents only want to give a 1 bedroom (1.5- or 2- room apartments) to a single person. I asked one and they said it's because they think if it's two people they are worried that they are likely to move out after a short time. I find this totally strange... but anyway...
Also, we're not looking for tiny apartments either, generally 35m2 or bigger (which is about the same size as our previous apartments in Sydney).

Anyway we are now thinking only one of us should apply as a single person (i.e. one person on the lease) but still live together in the apartment. In my understanding according to this, it should be OK? http://www.mieterverband.ch/fragen/frage.php?id=371
If so, how many people should I list on my application? Should I put like, 1-2, or something?

But if only one of us is on the lease, can we still both register with the Kreisburo under the same address?

Anyone had similar experience?

Cheers
RS13

I am the only person on my lease, but my 2 adult children and my girlfriend are all registered as living there. They are two separate things.

In the case of my girlfriend, I did have to give a written declaration to the commune that she is living there.

Tom

if you are both working /earning an income/ they might also 'eliminate' you from the list, because they are of the opinion that you earn 'too much' and should find something bigger/more expensive.

My husband's salary is enough to comfortably pay our rent and family expenses, so he applied on the basis of his one income - rather than giving our double income, which makes us look rather 'wealthy'...

Really, though, my best advice is nothing to do with size, who applies, or how much money you earn - the real reason that we were successful in our application was because my employer took the phone call from the landlord, and argued our case...

By 'swiss' standards our apartment is 'small' 'old' 'noisy' 'crowded' - by Sydney standards it's got a virtually new kitchen, bathroom, double glazing, is very quiet (we are on a main road but at night there's virtually no traffic - we can hear the water flowing in the river 100 metres away)... and very spacious for a family of 5!

Hi Swisspea

Thanks for the reply.
We are actually taking this year off to do our Masters (full time) here, but we are working part time during semester time and full time during the breaks. Is there a general rule of thumb of what is considered sufficient income in the application (i.e. with respect to the rental price)?

But in any case, I'll definitely list my boss as my referee for the agent to call.

Thanks

Hi Tom

Thanks for the reply. When you give your written declaration, was the real estate agent involved at all, or did you have to give a copy of your lease, or anything?

Thanks

No, nothing. Just a one line statement stating that I confirm that she is living in my apartment, signed in front of the local authority at the town hall.

(this is because she is not on the lease, and she has no way to prove where she lives otherwise)

Tom

The general rule of thumb is that you wouldn't be approved for anything more than 30% of your income. But it seems agents don't like if you spent too little either, like 10%-15%.