Live in France instead?

Half of Geneva does, economically. Cross-border commuting is a tax and currency model of its own — price the franc salary against euro costs, not just the rent gap.

Federal law, cantonal practice. Geneva administers its own authorization queue with its own timelines.

Switzerland · CHF

Genevareal estate

Geneva is a diplomatic capital on a lake with a French border for a suburb — Champel, Eaux-Vives and Les Pâquis are three books, and half the workforce crosses that border daily.

Zurich

Cantonal notary path

Lex Koller checked

3D map

Lex Kollerpermit regime for non-resident buyers

0% / ~3%transfer tax: Zurich vs Geneva

Reference ratethe mortgage rate that moves rents

20%Lex Weber cap on second homes per commune

What a purchase really costs

CHF 1'000'000 home in Geneva

Transfer tax (Handänderungssteuer) (3%): CHF 30'000
Notary & land-register (cantonal scale ≈0.5%): CHF 5'000
Cash needed at the notary: CHF 1'035'000

≈ +3.5% over the price. Lex Koller makes Switzerland the tightest foreign-buyer regime on this site: buyers without residence or establishment need cantonal authorization inside federal quotas, and some cantons add their own restrictions. Zurich levies no transfer tax at all — registry fees only — while Geneva charges around 3%. Notary scales are cantonal: confirm the canton’s schedule before wiring.

Rentals run on rules

The rent side, in three lines

Rent increases track the federal reference mortgage rate — a rate cut entitles tenants to a reduction claim.
Deposits cap at three months’ rent (art. 257e CO) and must sit in a blocked account in the tenant’s name.
Geneva and Vaud require the official form for the initial rent and every increase — no form, no increase.

Tenants are organised and the law favours them. Underwrite the reference rate and the form, not the asking rent alone.

Cities

Two cities, 26 cantonal rulebooks

Transfer tax, notary scale and foreign-buyer practice are cantonal. Zurich and Geneva share a currency and almost nothing else about closing a purchase.

International organizations and private banking create a tenant base that pays on time and leaves on rotation — premium furnished stock near the lake turns over with the diplomatic calendar. Around 3% droits de mutation make Geneva the dearest Swiss canton to close in.

The official form for the initial rent is mandatory in Geneva: every lease states the previous rent, and an excessive increase is challengeable. LDTR rules restrict converting rental stock — check the building’s status before any pied-à-terre arithmetic.

FAQ

Live in France instead?: Half of Geneva does, economically. Cross-border commuting is a tax and currency model of its own — price the franc salary against euro costs, not just the rent gap.
Same Lex Koller?: Federal law, cantonal practice. Geneva administers its own authorization queue with its own timelines.

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