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Something like 80% of the people in Switzerland rent rather than own. Primarily, I am told, this is because the banks would rather maintain possession of all the property. Still, there is a variety of institutions holding real estate throughout the country. And there appears to always be places available to rent, though they don't stay that way for very long. It's just that the number of people leaving roughly equals the number of people looking, with just enough of a bias toward the looking that a seller's market emerges somewhat dominant.
So, you browse through the various online listings for apartments for rent. Each listing should tell you, at minimum, the size of the place (in square-meters, number of rooms, or both) the amount they're asking (one number for rent, and another for "nebenkosten": basically utilities. These are both not negotiable, as we'll soon see) the date the place becomes available, and the hours during which the place can be seen.
Generally, the apartments are small, starting with a single room and bathroom, and first adding a kitchen then multi-purpose room before something that would typically function as a second bedroom. This suits me fine, as I'd rather not pay for a second bedroom, but having a larger "living room" with enough space to drag out a fold-away bed for guests would be perfect.
The rent is expensive compared to similar stuff back in the states. There is a definite effect of being close to Zurich, as you see everything go up in price as you head into Zurich. Winterthur, while 20 minutes away by train, is still influenced, so there's nothing "out-of-town" between the two that would save much money. My only hope for a truly inexpensive place would be heading to a small town to the north-east. Perhaps one day I'll settle into a larger house out in the village in the country, but for now I'll be looking to stay close enough to walk to work.
Dates of availability are surprisingly far out. Only one apartment did I see that was actually unoccupied at the time of its being listed. It is now May 16, and nothing will come free before July 1. No way will the owner allow the room to be empty and not bringing in money. Which brings us to the last point, the showing of the apartments, which amazingly is done by the current tenants themselves! A few hours are set aside on perhaps one or two days; maybe three hours altogether. That's all that is needed to find a new renter. A dozen or more would-be renters seemed to be at each place we went to, waiting outside for the posted hour before knocking. Suddenly, the apartment would be flooded with people trying to get a look at the kitchen, a peek in the bathroom, scoping out the balcony, opening all the cupboards, the closets. Quite the mass invasion of privacy, but I guess that's what happens here. Out of this motley crew, one lucky would-be renter will receive a golden-ticket in the form of a reply to his application.
So my company-assigned agent considered my search criteria, and found what he considered promising places to start. We began on Monday, with a schedule designed around the viewing windows of four apartments. At the first, (located at the #1 on the map below) we find a smallish apartment in a place built into a slightly sloped hillside. The wall around the large circular staircase leading to the apartments above juts into the main room, and the gal currently living there says people can be heard going up and down the stairs in the evening. Also, it's CHF 1290, ($1460) per month, but it's very close to work/the train station, and the neighborhood is quiet and green. Just behind the place a forest sits five minutes away on a bicycle, and you could swear you're back in Portland in the trees/hills outside of OHSU. We speak with the caretaker, who doesn't mind that I have virtually no German vocabulary, because I'm single (so not likely to be as loud as a family) and I work for Sulzer, which is still a respectable employer in this town. We take an application form from the caretaker, and head on our way.
Eventually, we find ourselves a good distance from the office, about twice as far from work as where I stayed back in 2007 (#2 on the map). This place is interesting. It's a bit larger, and actually cheaper (CHF 1230, $1390 per month). It's close to the rail-line, and it's obvious the trains would be easily heard, at least from the front rooms. It looks like it's the only apartment on the fourth floor, though, with some attic storage ("for skis!" everyone tells me) on the opposite side of the staircase. Perhaps a bit older, the place hasn't been redone in some time. The small elevator would never be allowed in the states. (Have you ever ridden in an elevator without inner doors, so that the whole time you're traveling upward, you can reach out and touch the moving wall in front of you? It's a trip, I tell you.) It's a short bus-ride away from the depot near work, with the bus-stop just across the street. When the weather's nice, it's probably a good half-hour walk.
We continued throughout the week, ultimately finding spot #3 and #4 on the last day of looking. #3 was also a distance away, and had long been in need of a remodel. But the rent was quite inexpensive (CHF 1060, $1200, I think) so I felt it was a decent value. This neighborhood also seemed quiet. Definitely a residential area, though with plenty of trees around. "There's a gym across the street," said the agent, "and other things to see and do nearby." It felt like the East side of Portland. A few floors up, again in elevator designed for people who DON'T wear scarves and I found myself looking out over the balcony through the dense trees of the area. "Needs some work, but it has to be worth the price they're asking," I thought to myself. I applied for this one for variety's sake. "Perhaps the rest fall through, and only a cheap one agrees to accept me. In that case, I hope it's this cheap one."
Lastly, #4 was the bargain that would not be. Amazingly close, and without a size listed online, it turned out to be fairly modern in appearance and quite roomy. When we asked the two girls for the application, however, the price didn't match what was posted online. Perhaps if I hadn't seen the online price, I would have been happy to pay what was now CHF 1350 ($1530), as the place truly was nice, and close, and large. Really, it had plenty of space. I took an application form anyway, but felt sick as I filled it out. "I'm sure the online price is what the young ladies are paying now," said the agent, "and this new higher price is what the owner would now like to charge. It's against the law, but nobody's going to stop them. If we complain, they'll just toss our application out and give the place to someone else who'll be all to eager to accept." (Apparently, Swiss law prevents property owners from arbitrarily increasing the price of rent without making physical upgrades. They are not allowed to use the exchange of renters as an opportunity to jack the price up. Laws of this sort are apparently what result from a strongly democratic government, in a country where 80% of the population rents.) Should nothing else come back, I suppose I would still stay here, but it would be hard to forget as I pay the rent each month. This was almost the best deal around.
The two major locations on the map are my office and the train station, so these are marked. Also, there's a green circle representing where I'm currently staying. Finally, the four apartments which I've applied for are labeled by numbers in the order they were viewed / applied for.
While I only applied for the four, there were nearly a dozen places we looked at. I didn't bother with the one on the 13th floor (not superstitious, but it was a loooong way from work), the one with the kitchen in the hallway, the one behind the strip joint, etc... Hopefully, one of these four works out.
I've added a poll at the top of the blog where people can vote on which apartment they think would be best. (...best for me, best for yourself, best I don't know. It just sounded like a fun thing to add...) Remember, though, these places have their pick of several applicants, so there's no guarantee I'll get ANY of them.
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