The decision to keep or sell a property is as individual as you and your property

Good reasons to sell

Most people usually have a personal reason for selling their property. For example, they may want to have liquid assets when they reach retirement age. Another reason may be to avoid potential complications which could arise in the event of a future inheritance, for example. Perhaps the property they are wanting to sell is already shared by several heirs that no longer want to be financially connected.  A financial separation such as this is also common after a divorce.

Another possible reason for selling is that it is takes too much time or effort to manage the property due to disagreements with renters, the property management company, or simply because it has become too complex to make the necessary changes to the property so that it meets new requirements.

Deciding on your investment strategy

Apart from personal reasons, the situation on the property market is decisive when it comes to finding the right moment to sell your property. For example, low interest rates or an uncertain general economic situation make traditional financial investments more unattractive but they make investments in “non-cash assets” such as property or precious metals more attractive. This means that investors need to act in a targeted way and be very familiar with the markets. Market prices and development opportunities can vary wildly from region to region, particularly when it comes to mixed residential and commercial property. Our Swiss market reports offer some initial insights in this area. They contain clear information about prices and trends, with relevant regional information included in local market reports.

In addition, strategic investment reasons can tip the scales when it comes to making a decision to sell. New requirements, such as for greater sustainability in the property sector for example, and an uncertain political or legal situation can play a role here.

Shifting to other assets, the realisation of value appreciation and reinvestment into other property, for example, should also be considered as part of your investment strategy.

The so-called “speculation period” can give you a rough timeline for when to sell your property. In Switzerland, this rule applies to any property that you as the owner do not use yourself and is as follows: if ten years has passed since you purchased the property and you want to sell it, you will not have to pay capital gains tax on the gains made during the sale.

Optimising returns

Perhaps you simply want to optimise your returns and believe that this is the best reason for selling your property. By cleverly reinvesting any proceeds from the sale of your property, you can increase the diversification of your property portfolio and invest in other locations and sectors. You could even look at the available options for indirect property investments.

One way to optimise your returns is to take a closer look at the tax-related aspects of your property, for example by writing-off your property expenses. By doing this, any property that is rented or leased (property used to earn money), is taken into account.

This allows property owners can claim the acquisition, running and production costs for tax purposes. The acquisition and running costs include the purchase price of the property, the notary fees, brokerage fees, property transfer fees or estimate costs.

If you want to sell a property from your property portfolio and reinvest the proceeds into another property, the write-off is done based on the current (higher) market value of the newly acquired property. This higher write-off reduces your tax burden and improves your returns.