Hi everyone, I live in Portugal and I'm looking to relocate to a permanent position in Basel in June/July with a company I currently work for from abroad.
I was wondering if it is possible to rent or reserve an appartment from a distance, given that I can request my company for any assistance needed in the meantime.

I have seen some interesting rentals in Liestal where I'm thinking to relocate and I am afraid I might miss the chance to apply correctly on time given the absence factor.

Many thanks in advance

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Basel is a large city. Short-term furnished rentals are common. It shouldn't be that hard for you employer to arrange a 3 month rental. During that time you can look for a place according to your preferences.

I guess it would be a bit risky to engage in a 1 year contract before you know Basel a bit better, discover what you like, ask your new colleagues, etc.

Furnished rentals are 20-40% more expensive than long term, but better to pay a bit more that get stuck in a place you don't like. Annoyances can be as simple as being next to roadwork or a new apartments being build that will last years. The people that already live there will have to endure it, but you have all the freedom to choose, don't waste the chance

I wouldn't try to rent (long term) from abroad. You don't know the area and where you might like best. And there are scams out there where someone wants to take your money and but you don't get a flat.

Here's a site that specialised in temporary (often furnished) rentals.
https://www.ums.ch/furnished-apartments/basel/

If you are single, or a couple with no children, you might consider sharing for a while, so you have a base while you're searching for the right apartment. "WG" means "wohn genossenschaft" or "living community" and "zimmer" means "room". The term is used for any kind of shared accommodation, including just renting a single room inside someone else's apartment.
https://www.wgzimmer.ch/en/wgzimmer/search/mate.html?

Word of warning - if it sounds like a really good deal, it's probably a scam.

There's few places in Basel that are really bad. Just make sure you're close to the public transport system.

I can also arrange with my company to go there for a couple weeks and meanwhile I could apartment hunt, would you recommend that ?

Otherwise what you suggested seems like the most feasible solution.

Thanks a lot for your replies so far

Housing is landlord's market in Switzerland. All those interesting rentals you saw are either scams or will promptly go to one of dozens applicants who show up at the viewing. No sane landlord is going to wait for an out of country applicant when they have a queue of locals applying for it at the same time.

You could reserve an airbnb/hotel/serviced apartment online. Then once you're actually in the country, look around and attend viewings, that's how it's done.

See what your company can do for you, specialist relocation agents can help jump the queue or smooth things.



Otherwise to explain the market is just as spark says, it's not uncommon for 20-30 people to show up for a viewing of a rental apartment and the landlord or agent can take their pick among the tenants. They'll want to see payslips, your job contract, a certificate saying you have no unpaid debts (as in contested/default), that your residency is in order and so on, you should gather as many of these as possible. It's Catch-22 as you need to be resident in Switzerland to have some of these documents.

Ours must have been insane. We did exactly that.

We did, however, get someone local to check the place out on our behalf.

The first time we saw the apartment was when we rolled up with a lorry full of our stuff.

Good for you, how did you manage to provide all the documents you can't get without the visa ? I was hoping for something along these lines, I don't mind also coming for a month and look for something, but there's no guarantee I would actually find something in the meantime.

Let me guess, you were the only applicant and apartment was overpriced? In that case it's too soon to commit them into a mental institution.