Countries · Switzerland
What to check in Switzerland before you sign.
There are barely any vacant flats left. Every change of tenant becomes a chance to reset the rent higher, and anyone who misses the objection deadline pays that increase for years.
What costs the most money in Switzerland
The vacancy rate stood at 1.0 percent on 1 June 2025, that is 48,455 empty flats across the country and the fifth fall in a row. In Geneva it is 0.34 percent, in Zug 0.42 and in Zurich 0.48.
Purchase costs
1.0 to 3.3%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Property transfer tax, by canton10 to 33‰
- Schwyznone
- Zurich, Uri, Glarus, Zug, Schaffhausen, Aargau, Ticinofees instead
- Notary and land registercantonal, additional
Source: Federal Tax Administration, dossier on property transfer tax. The tax is normally paid by the acquirer, and split in half in Basel-Landschaft and Obwalden. There are no official rates for agents' commissions, which is why no overall range is given here.
The trap for tenants
The initial rent can only be challenged within 30 days of taking over the flat. After that it is final. In nine cantons the landlord has to justify any increase over the previous tenant's rent on an official form. Without that justification the rent was never validly agreed, and most tenants do not know it.
Source: Obligationenrecht Artikel 270, Mieterinnen- und Mieterverband
Energy and the duty to renovate
The cantonal building energy certificate is voluntary in principle; the cantons set the duties themselves. In the canton of Fribourg it has been compulsory for transfers and new builds since 2013. For subsidy applications covering refurbishment and heating replacement, the extended version is becoming mandatory step by step.
What to watch for in Switzerland in particular
The land register is not freely open here. Without a demonstrated interest you see only the designation, the owner, the date of acquisition and the easements. Everything else stays hidden. Binding information on building zone, noise and contaminated sites does come from the register of public-law restrictions on landownership, free of charge and plot by plot.
Source: Zivilgesetzbuch Artikel 970 und ÖREB-Kataster des Bundes
Official maps in Switzerland
10 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in Switzerland.
Scan my Home checks against these sources. You can call up every one of them yourself, and that is exactly the point: a figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
Ownership & charges
Grundbuch (kantonales Grundbuchamt)
Ownership, land charges, easements, annotations
Value & land value
Amtliche Vermessung / geodienste.ch
Plot data, boundaries, area
Energy
GEAK Gebäudeenergieausweis der Kantone
Energy figures for the building
Environment & natural hazards
map.geo.admin.ch Naturgefahren
Flood, landslide, avalanche at the location
Building & zoning
Zonenplan der Gemeinde
Building zone, use, planned schemes
The market in Switzerland
90,839 new mortgage loans with a volume of 83.25 billion francs. 57,281 loans were counted for owner-occupied homes and 26,138 for rented residential property. The median mortgage for an owner-occupied home stood at 605,000 francs at the end of 2025.
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in Switzerland — every figure with its source.
Open the example dossierOther countries