Foreign buyer with a B permit?

An EU/EFTA resident buying a main home is largely outside Lex Koller. A holiday flat or a purchase without residence is inside it — permit first.

The canton abolished it; only notary and Grundbuch fees apply. Cantonal policy, not a national rule.

Switzerland · CHF

Zurichreal estate

Zurich is a banking capital that prices housing like a vault — Seefeld, Enge and Wiedikon are three books, and the cheapest part of closing is the transfer tax, because there is none.

Geneva

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 Zurich

Notary & land-register (cantonal scale ≈0.5%): CHF 5'000
Cash needed at the notary: CHF 1'005'000

≈ +0.5% 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.

Owner-occupier stock is scarce by policy and culture: most of Zurich rents, and large apartments convert slowly. Seefeld and the lake shore are the trophy book; Wiedikon, Aussersihl and Oerlikon are the professional book where bidding decides the price.

Stockwerkeigentum dominates new supply, with renewal-fund health as the core diligence — the Swiss cousin of the service-charge file. Minergie certification moves both price and rentability.

Buy in Zurich Rent in Zurich

FAQ

Foreign buyer with a B permit?: An EU/EFTA resident buying a main home is largely outside Lex Koller. A holiday flat or a purchase without residence is inside it — permit first.
Why no transfer tax?: The canton abolished it; only notary and Grundbuch fees apply. Cantonal policy, not a national rule.

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