Renting house / flat in swissy
Discussion
Gents, we are being told that in order to give up the appartment we need to give a minimum of 3 months notice prior to the lease expiry date, ie if our lease is up on the 1st July we need to give notice 1st April.
Obviously will read the lease agreement carefully but, Could someone please confirm this is the norm in switzerland with renting.
I know in France they have a very similar set up with car insurance, you have to give 3 months notice that you do not wish to renew the policy otherwise it renews automaticaly and you have no choice, only exception to this is if the insurance company increases the premium more than 10% or similar.
Thanks
Obviously will read the lease agreement carefully but, Could someone please confirm this is the norm in switzerland with renting.
I know in France they have a very similar set up with car insurance, you have to give 3 months notice that you do not wish to renew the policy otherwise it renews automaticaly and you have no choice, only exception to this is if the insurance company increases the premium more than 10% or similar.
Thanks
Sounds correct. However, if you find someone to take over the apartment before the next official date then the landlord will let you out of the contract earlier. As there is generally a lack of rental accommodation it is not usually a problem to find a new tenant. Suggest you advertise over home gate (landlord or agency might prefer to do it themselves).
Normally, termination dates are only at the end of March, June and September, and it is customary to give three months notice. As Schnellmann said if you find another person willing to take over the lease (a "Nachmieter"), you may terminate your rental agreement prior to the termination date.
E.g. we gave up our apartment in March so we can leave in June. Also make sure the termination letter is posted and signed for on delivery. This way there is no argument when the agent can say they never got the termination request (have heard this happening).
E.g. we gave up our apartment in March so we can leave in June. Also make sure the termination letter is posted and signed for on delivery. This way there is no argument when the agent can say they never got the termination request (have heard this happening).
Hi Guys, our lease is up the 15th may, we should have given notice on 15th feb which due to circumstances we missed by a couple of weeks.
Problem we have is that the agency couldnt really care less and are happy to keep taking there cut until may 13 as they have no incentive to do anything for a year.
Obviously owner likewise has no incentive either as he has his income for another year.
Not sure best way forward for this other than to advertise ourselves which we have done locally, perhaps the site above could be an option, again not sure how we stand doing that as all we can do is point them to the managing agent to take commission for doing nothing.
Problem we have is that the agency couldnt really care less and are happy to keep taking there cut until may 13 as they have no incentive to do anything for a year.
Obviously owner likewise has no incentive either as he has his income for another year.
Not sure best way forward for this other than to advertise ourselves which we have done locally, perhaps the site above could be an option, again not sure how we stand doing that as all we can do is point them to the managing agent to take commission for doing nothing.
Agencies are notoriously disinterested in people who change as there does not appear to be any incentive in it for them - just more admin work.
There's generally such a shortage of properties available, you might have to fight them off. Saying that, there has been an awful lot built in the Nyon area in the past few years and I don't know for sure what the market is like. This week's news about Merck Serono cutting 1,250 jobs in Geneva will surely create a Tsunami along the shores of Lac Leman but it's early days on that one....
P.S. If this is the first Swiss apparment that you have given up, be preared for the inspection that the Regie will arrange to check that it has all been cleaned to the the required standard prior to or at the point of handover. The standard expected is on a par with operating theatres (!) and unless you are prepared to invest the time, you should get a professional in to help!
There's generally such a shortage of properties available, you might have to fight them off. Saying that, there has been an awful lot built in the Nyon area in the past few years and I don't know for sure what the market is like. This week's news about Merck Serono cutting 1,250 jobs in Geneva will surely create a Tsunami along the shores of Lac Leman but it's early days on that one....
P.S. If this is the first Swiss apparment that you have given up, be preared for the inspection that the Regie will arrange to check that it has all been cleaned to the the required standard prior to or at the point of handover. The standard expected is on a par with operating theatres (!) and unless you are prepared to invest the time, you should get a professional in to help!
MogulBoy said:
be preared for the inspection that the Regie will arrange to check that it has all been cleaned to the the required standard prior to or at the point of handover. The standard expected is on a par with operating theatres (!) and unless you are prepared to invest the time, you should get a professional in to help!
I did spend a fair bit of time and effort washing the floors and such down only to be told by good old dad after the event that he would probably get someone in to do it :-(Can confirm the point about cleaning. We tried to do it ourselves when we gave back the first flat we rented in Switzerland and despite myself, my wife and my mother doing our best it wasn't up to scratch. The new tenant literally went around wiping her finger on all surfaces to check for dust. We had to do some additional cleaning before the new tenant would accept it. Every since then we have employed cleaners with a guarantee (that they have to do the extra work if deemed not clean enough).
In the last flat we rented (before moving into our own house), the new tenants tried to make us pay for having the floor cleaned professionally because they thought it was streaky (didn't like the fact we had used a floor-tile cleaning product from Coop)! The concept of "too clean" isn't in the Swiss lexicon...
In the last flat we rented (before moving into our own house), the new tenants tried to make us pay for having the floor cleaned professionally because they thought it was streaky (didn't like the fact we had used a floor-tile cleaning product from Coop)! The concept of "too clean" isn't in the Swiss lexicon...
Just had a look on Homegate.ch and was about to post and say the advert prices are about as outrageous as the beer and food !!
However good news as the appartment is on the website via the agent.
I guess at this point I should appologise for my comments about the agent not bothering very much but will reserve judgement and wait until they have found someone first :-)
However good news as the appartment is on the website via the agent.
I guess at this point I should appologise for my comments about the agent not bothering very much but will reserve judgement and wait until they have found someone first :-)
Gassing Station | Switzerland | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff