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18.11.2019, 19:27
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| | Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
Is it better to buy or rent? If you have have the cash to buy a flat, is it a better deal to buy rather than renting and keeping the cash invested?
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18.11.2019, 19:32
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Verbier
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Is it better to buy or rent? If you have have the cash to buy a flat, is it a better deal to buy rather than renting and keeping the cash invested? | | | | | Depends what else you invest in, I personally don't like illiquid investments but my wife wants a bigger place, so against my better judgement....... Happy wife means a happy life
Last edited by fatmanfilms; 18.11.2019 at 21:13.
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18.11.2019, 19:39
|  | Moderately Amused | | Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bern area
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | The following 4 users would like to thank 3Wishes for this useful post: | | 
18.11.2019, 19:55
| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | | | | | |
FMF frightened of his wife, obviously !!
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18.11.2019, 20:03
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Verbier
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: |  | | | FMF frightened of his wife, obviously !! | | | | | Her demands have become more reasonable since I suggested the budget was unlimited so long as she contributed 50%  She has had her first double with Fundsmith so gets where I am coming from
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18.11.2019, 20:33
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Zug
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
No.
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18.11.2019, 20:52
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Basel
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Is it better to buy or rent? If you have have the cash to buy a flat, is it a better deal to buy rather than renting and keeping the cash invested? | | | | | Is it worth it?
Financially: no
Quiet life with wife: yes
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18.11.2019, 21:00
| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Her demands have become more reasonable since I suggested the budget was unlimited so long as she contributed 50% She has had her first double with Fundsmith so gets where I am coming from | | | | |
Ah....so you'll be camping then  | 
18.11.2019, 21:06
| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Depends what else you invest in, I personally don't like illiquid investments but my wife wants a bigger place, so against my better judgement....... Happy wife means a happy wife | | | | | I think the caveat is where will you "invest" your funds... In Switzerland, with low interests rates, not the best option. That said, depending on how much you pay in rent and how long you expect to live in Switzerland, it could be a good bet/punt to buy. In short, you need to do the research regarding tax savings in terms of purchase versus renting and investing funds (I would assume outside of Switzerland).
Hard to measure as I don't know your particulars. Look at comparis.com as a guide.
Hope this helps!
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19.11.2019, 08:33
| Banned | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: CH
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Is it better to buy or rent? If you have have the cash to buy a flat, is it a better deal to buy rather than renting and keeping the cash invested? | | | | | Best to buy and get a bank morgage. The idea is to never pay it off completely otherwise the tax man hits you hard. Its a shit system here.
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19.11.2019, 08:37
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Switzerland
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
Bank may not been keen on the idea of renting out/airbnb either so check that before making any purchase.
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19.11.2019, 08:43
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Bank may not been keen on the idea of renting out/airbnb either so check that before making any purchase. | | | | | They will want a far higher deposit & probably higher interest rate as its a commercial loan & not a residential loan for your main residence.
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19.11.2019, 08:51
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Zürich
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
YES!
It may not suit everybody, but buying my own home was the best financial move I made in my life. I cannot imagine renting and paying out 10s of 1000s a year when I can live in my own home for interest rates around 1%.
Contrary Omtatsat‘s usual ill-informed comment it is an excellent system. Today approx CHF830 per month, or less, will get you CHF1million mortgage on a home and asset that will appreciate - with renting all that goes up is the rent...
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19.11.2019, 09:09
| Banned | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: CH
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | YES!
It may not suit everybody, but buying my own home was the best financial move I made in my life. I cannot imagine renting and paying out 10s of 1000s a year when I can live in my own home for interest rates around 1%.
Contrary Omtatsat‘s usual ill-informed comment it is an excellent system. Today approx CHF830 per month, or less, will get you CHF1million mortgage on a home and asset that will appreciate - with renting all that goes up is the rent... | | | | | You never get the feeling you own a house here when its more or less the bank that owns it.
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19.11.2019, 09:39
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Here
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
One of the biggest benefits of buying is that afterwards it ceases to be a perpetual topic of debate.
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19.11.2019, 10:09
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
And you finally have something to paint the walls every couple of years, to bricolate, to drill holes in walls, to tune to your needs | This user would like to thank memihai for this useful post: | | 
19.11.2019, 10:11
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Zürich
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | You never get the feeling you own a house here when its more or less the bank that owns it. | | | | | If you have never done it, how do you know how it feels??
I have had a mortgage in one form or another since 1971 and have NEVER felt that the bank/building society or whatever owned my property.
You mean if you lease a car, which can be a far greater commitment in loan percentage than a mortgage, you feel the car is owned by the credit company??
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19.11.2019, 10:15
| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: | |  | | | Best to buy and get a bank morgage. The idea is to never pay it off completely otherwise the tax man hits you hard. Its a shit system here. | | | | | No. You get hit for the tax charge whether you pay the mortgage off or not. It's your decision - if you find paying the bank CHF 100 (or whatever) in interest is worth it to save maybe CHF 25 in tax then that's your choice.
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19.11.2019, 10:52
| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland?
OP, since you specifically mention buying a flat (therefore in a development of >1 apartments) then there are additional expenses to think of - you'll probably have to contribute to a communal fund for repairs as well as communal maintenance, lighting, car park cleaning etc etc.
Whilst it is almost certainly still going to work out better than renting, outlay wise, you should probably factor all of that in to see if the difference is worth committing a large chunk of capital towards. Also, make sure the building rules aren't too stringent (or are!) so you don't just feel like you've spent a load of money to be a renter again.
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19.11.2019, 11:06
| Member | | Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Zurich
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| | Re: Is it worth buying a flat in Switzerland? | Quote: |  | | | No. You get hit for the tax charge whether you pay the mortgage off or not. It's your decision - if you find paying the bank CHF 100 (or whatever) in interest is worth it to save maybe CHF 25 in tax then that's your choice. | | | | | I've been told the opposite, many times.
The interest you pay is based on the size of your mortgage, which should decrease as you pay it off, correct? The tax you pay is based on the value of the property I'd assume, and this is unlikely to decrease.
So if I'm correct with both of my previous statements, isn't there a cross over point where paying the interest on the mortgage becomes less than the tax?
Or are you certain that this is universally not going to happen, no matter the value of the property?
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