the post office (post finance) is offering mortgages at 1.7% last time i looked. as the post office is not a bank, they do not need to declare who their american clients are....not to anyone.
you may want to take this into consideration before getting turned away by most commercial banks in switzerland.
best of luck

epicure, Oct 4, 2009 @ 19:33

 Thanks Epicure,

Will check out the post, but as I hold a Swiss and American passport this should not be an issue for me.

have a good evening.
marsprincess, Oct 4, 2009 @ 19:38

 Hi,

you might want to make use of a "courtier", that is what I did to buy an apartment. They go "shopping" on your behalf for the best loan once you  give them your details and get  paid by the bank.

I used a place called Coficap, they have English speaking staff, (I do not get any money for that tip!), but they got me a great loan, really cheap, and many other good advice on buying a house as well

cheers acquaria

acquaria, Oct 4, 2009 @ 21:10

 When setting up your loan you shoud pay attention to 2 things :
1/ choice of bank and comparison of interest rates,
2/ choice of payback method

Point 2/ is important as you can either pay the bank both the interest rates and the loan based on a specific "calendrier d'amortissement". Or you can save money on taxes by paying only the interests to the bank and covering the value of the loan with a life insurance (called "pilier 3A"). The amount you put in the life insurance is directly linked to your loan and at its term the bulk sum is directly given to the bank in reimbursment of the loan. Meanwhile you have deducted the life insurance payments from your taxes.

Using this life insurance system also presents the advantage of covering your loan in case of death and avoiding your family to have to take up your debt. I used this system when buying my apt 7 years ago.
Fdauphin, Oct 5, 2009 @ 13:33

 thanks for the tips ladies. The offer is in... now just to see what happens.
marsprincess, Oct 6, 2009 @ 16:15