Family Owning real estate: these points are key.

Real estate ownership entails not only rights, but also obligations. Are you planning to purchase a property with your partner? While the Civil Code (CC) contains numerous provisions on joint real estate ownership for married couples, there are virtually no rules regarding the rights and obligations of cohabiting couples.

For unmarried couples in particular, it is therefore important to obtain an overview of the legal basis before making a joint purchase. This will ensure that the ownership situation is clear if anything should go wrong. A cohabitation agreement sets out the most important details, such as the ownership situation, proportional breakdown of ongoing costs, and the procedure to be followed in the event of separation.

The law provides for three ownership options. Which one you ultimately choose depends on your own personal situation. The important thing is to obtain information in advance about the possible consequences.

• In the case of sole ownership, only one partner is entered in the land register as the owner and therefore has sole decision-making authority over the property. Moreover, in this case, only the sole owner is taken into account in the affordability calculation – the earned income of the second partner doesn’t count towards it.
• In the case of co-ownership, both partners are listed separately in the land register according to a predefined ownership quota. The equity contributed by each partner plays a role in the event of separation. This is relevant if pension assets from pillars 2 or 3 are used for the purchase. If, for example, one partner makes an early withdrawal of pension fund assets, the amount of this withdrawal must be documented in the land register.
• In the case of joint ownership, both partners are entered in the land register as owners with equal rights. The property belongs to them equally – even if one partner has invested more equity than the other. According to this model of ownership, the partners are closely bound to each other and can only decide to sell their residential property if they both agree.

The article “What cohabiting couples should know” contains further information on this topic, as well as a helpful checklist on joint real estate ownership for cohabiting couples.

If you are thinking of selling your property, you should know its market value. It’s worth consulting experts to assess this properly. If you underestimate the market value, you may miss out on a lot of money. However, if you overestimate it, you could scare off potential buyers and you risk not being able to sell the property. That’s why it's vital to estimate the optimal price. There are two ways to do this:

• For luxury and collectors’ properties, it is advisable to carry out a valuation of the substance of the property, in which a professional valuer gets an idea of the state and location of the property in order to establish the market value.
• For all other real estate, hedonic appraisal is common, where property value is determined based on comparable properties that have recently been sold.

There are also tax aspects to consider when selling real estate. If you want to sell your property, you as the seller must pay what is known as real estate capital gains tax. In simplified terms, tax has to be paid on the difference between the purchase price and the selling price. The period of ownership is taken into account in the calculation: the longer you keep the property, the lower the tax. You should be aware that there can be large cantonal differences. For further measures to optimize real estate capital gains tax, read this article. Notary fees and, depending on the canton, real estate transfer tax, are also payable on the sale.