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Every year, 40,000 to 50,000 single-family houses and condominiums change hands in Switzerland. The days when properties were offered in newspapers or on notice boards are over. According to real estate experts, today more than 90 percent of all offers on the internet are advertised on online platforms. This makes the search easier, because you can find hundreds of suitable houses or flats with just a few clicks - and at the same time more difficult, because you have to separate the wheat from the chaff to find your dream house or apartment. That's why we launched the most innovative property search in Switzerland at the beginning of December 2021.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, flats (76 instead of 83 days) and houses (66 instead of 73 days) were advertised for seven days less than in the fourth quarter of 2019 (source: Wüest + Partner).
The more precisely you know your search criteria and your financial scope, the easier the search will be. The loan-to-value ratio (up to 80 percent of the purchase price) and affordability (up to 35 percent of household income) determine your room for manoeuvre. The search criteria depend on your wishes and needs. First consider where (in the city, in the agglomeration or in the countryside?) and how (in a house or in a flat?) you want to live. Then refine your search criteria: Old building or new building? Detached house, terraced house or villa? Attic flat, loft or maisonette?
Search criteria for the object
Search criteria for the macro location
Search criteria for the micro location (environment)
Don't be influenced by others and set too many criteria rather than too few in your property search. Otherwise you will never find the needle in the haystack. You can always cut back later.
Most property search portals offer comparable functions. By default, you can enter important search criteria, such as town or region, property type, price range and number of rooms. It makes sense to refine your search with filters such as year of construction, living space and cubage, property area or availability. You can also select features that are important to you: Outdoor parking space or garage space? Balcony or terrace? Lift? You can also restrict your search to properties that are wheelchair-accessible or have been built according to the Minergie standard, for example. The more precisely you define the search criteria, the higher the search hit accuracy - and you have to visit fewer houses or flats that ultimately do not suit you. If your search returns too few hits, you should critically question your search criteria. It may be worthwhile to divide the criteria into important (must have) and less important (nice to have).
Organise a first visit appointment, as soon as you have found a property that meets most of the search criteria. If you are still interested afterwards, you should visit the house or apartment for a second time.
The hit quality depends on your search criteria and on the information provided by the seller. The more data the seller collects and the more detailed he or she describes the house or apartment, the greater the intersection between your requirements and reality. However, some information tends to get lost in many property portals, even if a seller is honest and fills in everything conscientiously. For example, it is difficult for laypeople to judge whether the purchase price is reasonable or how good the house or apartment really is. An estate agent who knows the market and the region can help you compare the purchase price. For the evaluation of the building fabric, it makes sense to have a building expert accompany you on the second and more detailed inspection and look for weak points.
Old buildings are sold "as seen". If, for example, all the water pipes have to be replaced, the supposed bargain can be expensive. You should therefore be careful.
In Switzerland there are no legally binding requirements for real estate advertisements. The seller is not liable for incorrect, missing or incomplete information. Only the purchase contract is legally binding. Therefore, you should check each advertisement thoroughly before you view the house or flat:
With our innovative Property Search, we close information gaps. We aggregate the ads for houses and apartments from all the major real estate platforms in Switzerland and enrich their data with our analyses. The result is valuable additional information that makes it easier for you to decide for or against a property. For example, in the current version, you can see our neutral Property Valuation at first glance and can judge whether the sales price is reasonable or not. In later versions we will also show the market value development of the house or flat, for example over twelve months.
In the coming weeks and months, we will continuously expand our search, integrate all smart Houzy tools and intelligently link all data. In later versions, you will then be able to create virtual dossiers of houses or apartments with just a few clicks and see, among other things, thanks to our added-value information, …
By the way, the property search will soon be available outside the Houzy platform. You can currently try out the search in your Houzy account under "Property search".
