Documents required for buying a Swiss property
Elizabeth Bagwell, Saturday, 16 November 2013
This article is part of a series of 10 articles about buying property in Switzerland. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
An overview of the documents required for each of the main phases of purchasing a property in Switzerland.
If you are neither a Swiss citizen nor a Swiss resident, as an international non-resident buyer you will have to apply for and receive official permission to purchase property in Switzerland before you will be permitted to do so. The permit is for the purchase of a particular property, which means that you need to agree a price and begin the purchase process before you can apply for a permit. Otherwise, the requirements are the same.
Agreement to buy the property
After a price has been negotiated, the prospective buyer and seller will sign a contract. The contract must be written by and signed in front of a notary. All parties must be present and provide identification, typically:
Applying for a license to purchase the property
An application form must be obtained from the commune (village or city council) in the area in which you wish to buy the property. You will have to provide documentary evidence of your status including items such as:
Further details are available in our article on mortgages. However, at a minimum you should expect to provide the following personal documents for each buyer:
Transfer of the property
The sale contract must be drawn up by and signed in the presence of a notary. At this stage the funds will be transferred from the buyer to the seller. In most cases, all documentation will have been examined prior to this point, apart from ID and documentation relating to the transfer of funds.
The transfer of funds may take place in several ways: the notary may hold the buyer's funds in escrow, the transfer may be handled by your mortgage company, a banker's draft may be required or you may have so many days to pay by bank transfer. The seller may require proof of your ability to pay or proof that the agreed on process has been put in motion.
As for the other stages, you should expect to provide proof of your status and identity, typically:
As you'll have seen from the lists above, prospective purchasers require information about the property from sellers before the sale is complete. As a result, it's important to keep all documents relating to the property in a safe and accessible place. Copies of documents should be sufficient initially, at least until after the preliminary sales agreement has been signed. You can usually send documents directly to the mortgage provider or other official if you prefer.
This article is part of a series of 10 articles about buying property in Switzerland. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
An overview of the documents required for each of the main phases of purchasing a property in Switzerland.
If you are neither a Swiss citizen nor a Swiss resident, as an international non-resident buyer you will have to apply for and receive official permission to purchase property in Switzerland before you will be permitted to do so. The permit is for the purchase of a particular property, which means that you need to agree a price and begin the purchase process before you can apply for a permit. Otherwise, the requirements are the same.
Agreement to buy the property
After a price has been negotiated, the prospective buyer and seller will sign a contract. The contract must be written by and signed in front of a notary. All parties must be present and provide identification, typically:
- Passport
- Visa (if resident)
Applying for a license to purchase the property
An application form must be obtained from the commune (village or city council) in the area in which you wish to buy the property. You will have to provide documentary evidence of your status including items such as:
- Passport
- Visa (if resident)
- Intentions for the property (permanent residence / holiday home / etc)
- Ability to pay
Further details are available in our article on mortgages. However, at a minimum you should expect to provide the following personal documents for each buyer:
- Passport
- Visa (if resident)
- License to purchase (if non-resident)
- Proof of income / salary
- Tax return
- Document indicating you do not have criminal convictions or have defaulted on debts
- Extract from the Swiss land registry
- Property description, such as floor plan and photo
- Insurance certificate
Transfer of the property
The sale contract must be drawn up by and signed in the presence of a notary. At this stage the funds will be transferred from the buyer to the seller. In most cases, all documentation will have been examined prior to this point, apart from ID and documentation relating to the transfer of funds.
The transfer of funds may take place in several ways: the notary may hold the buyer's funds in escrow, the transfer may be handled by your mortgage company, a banker's draft may be required or you may have so many days to pay by bank transfer. The seller may require proof of your ability to pay or proof that the agreed on process has been put in motion.
As for the other stages, you should expect to provide proof of your status and identity, typically:
- Passport
- Visa (if resident)
- License to purchase (if non-resident)
As you'll have seen from the lists above, prospective purchasers require information about the property from sellers before the sale is complete. As a result, it's important to keep all documents relating to the property in a safe and accessible place. Copies of documents should be sufficient initially, at least until after the preliminary sales agreement has been signed. You can usually send documents directly to the mortgage provider or other official if you prefer.
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