A handshake does not sell a house, and neither does a private signature: in Switzerland, a property sale has no legal value unless executed in authentic form, before a notary. Between the parties’ agreement and the transfer of ownership, several contracts may follow one another — and knowing which one binds you to what avoids the two classic mistakes: believing you are bound when you are not, and believing you are free when you no longer are.
Only one valid form: the authentic deed
The Code of Obligations requires it: the sale of a property requires an authentic deed, drafted and executed by a notary. A private agreement — even signed by both parties, even accompanied by a payment — transfers nothing and forces no one to sell. This is the most misunderstood protection in Swiss law: it applies in both directions.
Before the deed: preparatory contracts
The agreement is often built in stages, each with its own scope:
- The accepted purchase offer — a negotiation milestone; it only legally binds the parties if it is itself executed in authentic form;
- the promise of sale — a preliminary notarised commitment: the seller undertakes to sell, the buyer to buy, subject to conditions precedent — obtaining financing, an authorisation, the sale of another property;
- the forward sale — signature takes place today, but the transfer of ownership is postponed to an agreed date: useful when the seller remains in the property for a while, or the buyer is waiting for a deadline;
- the option to purchase or right of first refusal — the right to buy, or to buy in priority, if the owner sells.
What the contract must contain
- The identity of the parties and the precise designation of the property — land register sheet, easements, encumbrances;
- the price and its terms: due dates, deposits, escrow with the notary where applicable;
- the date of transfer of ownership — and that of the transfer of risk, which may differ;
- the conditions precedent: financing, building permit, a public authority’s right of pre-emption;
- the guarantees — in particular against defects in the property sold — and the post-sale obligations: handover of keys, inventory of fixtures, allocation of charges.
Each clause is negotiated before going to the notary — this is the broker’s job — and is then locked in the deed.
The process, from agreement to ownership
The typical Geneva sequence: agreement on price, promise of sale if conditions require it, preparation of the deed by the notary — verification of the land register, liens, easements —, signature, then application for registration in the land register. The point everyone thinks they know and many date incorrectly: the buyer does not become owner at signature, but at registration. A few days pass between the two — and it is the registration that is authoritative.
Between signature and the keys: who bears the risk?
Here is the question no one asks, yet one that is settled in the contract. Between the day of the deed and the day the buyer takes possession, weeks often pass. If a fire, water damage or storm affects the property during that interval — who bears the loss?
The Code of Obligations addresses this in its Article 220, devoted to profits and risks in the sale of properties: when a date has been set for taking possession, profits and risks only pass to the buyer on that date. In other words, it is not the signature that shifts the risk, it is the agreed date — and if no date is agreed, the discussion opens at the worst possible moment.
Three reflexes follow from this:
- set the date of taking possession in the deed, explicitly, even when it seems obvious;
- check that the building’s insurance covers the interval, and who holds the policy during that period — a policy that lapses at signature leaves a gap of several weeks;
- settle the fate of income: on a rented property, the rents from the interval follow the same logic as the risks. This is a line to be written, not assumed.
These are three lines in a deed, and they are the difference between a claim settled in two phone calls and a dispute lasting several months. Your notary will draft them if asked — but the question still has to be asked.
The clauses that truly protect you
The financing condition precedent is the most important for a buyer: if the bank refuses the loan, the sale falls through without penalty. Without it, a buyer whose financing fails remains bound — with the financial consequences set out in the contract. On the seller’s side, default penalties and the escrow of a deposit with the notary play a symmetrical role: they filter out buyers who are not certain to see the deal through.
What if one party wants to withdraw?
It all depends on the document signed and its conditions — the question deserves its own treatment: our article cancelling a property sale contract in Geneva details the cases in which you can be released, and what it costs.
A final word on what has no legal value at all: a verbal agreement, an exchange of emails, a handshake. However sincere, they bind no one in a Swiss property sale — only the authentic deed binds the parties. This is not a formality: it is protection for whoever might have committed too hastily. Until the notary has executed the deed, either party can withdraw, and this sometimes saves a seller as much as a buyer.
In practice, for your transaction
On the seller’s side, the contract comes at the end of the chain: everything begins with the price — a valuation based on real transactions — and with the method, described on selling with Rousseau 5; the net seller simulator calculates what you will receive after tax, and reinvestment can defer it. On the buyer’s side, negotiating the clauses starts as early as the viewing — our properties for sale and off-market listings are the starting point. The terms used on this page are defined in the glossary.