Switzerland

Registering Property in

Switzerland

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: CHF 3,714,111.41
  • City: Zurich

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Notify the Registry of Deeds about the sale contract

The parties (usually the seller) must give notification to the competent notary office (Notariatsamt) regarding a sales contract. In the case of the Canton of Zurich, this is a public office, which is in charge of the public notary function as well as the land register. In Swiss legislation, a real estate transfer contract cannot be established between private persons. The contract does not legally exist until it is authenticated with the help of a notary or the corresponding officer. From a legal point of view, even if buyer and seller agree on the conditions of the future contract, there is no contract. With the result of their negotiations, they will go to the notary office to explain what they have agreed upon. The notary then will verify that these agreements are valid (conditions are legal, possible, seller and buyer are able from a civil point of view), and when necessary, the notary must help the parties to complete the contract to insure its validity.


Agency: Registry of Deeds 		1-2 days no cost
2 A notary public prepares the sale contract

Preparation of the sale contract by a notary is mandatory in the canton Zurich, due to the cantonal law concerning land registration. For e.g. in the canton Basel-Stadt the parties can do it themselves. The sales contract must include the price of the land, the land parcel number, the information on both parties, and the extract from land register concerning this land parcel, as well as all costs which emerge by this contract. In the case of the Canton of Zurich, the "Notariatsamt" (notary) is also the "Grundbuchamt" (land registry). Therefore the extract is obtained at the same time. Otherwise an extract in the Canton of Zurich is obtained in 7-14 days and costs approximately CHF 150.

7-14 days CHF 150 (Extract)
3 The contract is signed before the public notary

If the contract is in order for both parties, it will be signed before the public notary, who will inform the parties about duties and rights concerning this contract. After the parties have examined the contract, it is returned to the public notary who then arranges a meeting between the parties and himself. The stamp duty is included in the notary fees.

 1 day 0.1% of property value (Includes the preparation in Procedure 2)
4 The title is registered at the Registry of Deeds

If the contract has been signed and the money transferred the transfer of ownership title will be entered in writing in the register of the deeds by the registrar. In such contracts, before transfer of ownership title can take place, the money will be transferred to a blocked bank account and will only be released after registration. The registration fee (0.25% of property value) is paid at the moment of registration.
As of January 1st. 2005, the transfer tax (1% of property value) has been abolished in Zurich.


Agency: Registry of Deeds 		2-3 days 0.25% of property value
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