How much can you borrow, and above all what price can you buy at? This calculator applies the lending rules our advisors actually use, including the acquisition costs of your canton. The result you get here is the one carried into your file.
The maximum purchase price you can finance under Swiss lending rules.
Leasing, alimony, existing credits
Notary and mortgage certificate costs vary widely between cantons.
Lending rules differ: own funds, amortisation, use of pension assets.
Maximum purchase price
CHF 881’762
What limits your capacity : your income against theoretical charges
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Indicative result, computed with a 5% theoretical rate, 1% maintenance costs and second-rank amortisation. It is not a financing agreement: final terms depend on a full review of your file.
5%
Theoretical rate
Lenders do not assess your charges at the market rate but at a theoretical 5%. Your file must hold even if rates rise sharply.
33%
Maximum affordability ratio
Theoretical interest, maintenance at 1% of the property value and amortisation must not exceed roughly a third of your annual income. Each lender applies its own calculation method and its own tolerance around that threshold.
20%
Minimum own funds
Of which at least 10% must be hard equity, excluding occupational pension assets. Acquisition costs come on top and cannot be financed.
Acquisition costs range from about 1.5% of the price in Zug or Zurich to nearly 5% in Geneva, Vaud or Neuchâtel. On a one-million purchase the gap exceeds CHF 35,000.
These costs cannot be financed by the mortgage: they are paid from your liquid assets, just like own funds. A calculator applying one flat rate across Switzerland is therefore wrong by construction.
In Geneva, the Casatax discount sharply reduces transfer duties for a main residence below the legal cap. The calculator applies it automatically when you qualify.
For a main residence you can use your occupational pension and pillar 3a, by withdrawal or pledge, and second-rank amortisation usually runs over fifteen years.
For a second home pension assets cannot be used, required own funds are higher and amortisation is shorter. With identical finances, buying power can be more than a third lower.
Withdrawing pension assets increases own funds and reduces the mortgage, hence the charge. Pledging leaves the assets invested and allows financing up to 90% of the price, but charges are still computed on a larger mortgage.
The two routes differ in tax treatment and in their effect on your retirement. This is exactly where an advisor makes the difference between a file that passes and one that passes well.
Knowing your capacity is not enough. On a sought-after property, the seller picks the buyer whose financing is already validated, not the one who still has to call their bank. Preparing your file upfront means you can decide fast when the property appears.