Advice
IBGI in Geneva: 2026 scale and how the tax is calculated
From 50% before two years to 2% after twenty-five: the Geneva IBGI scale, what can be deducted from the gain — and why an…
Knowledge centre
Advice
What we repeat in every meeting, written once and for all: how a sale is prepared, what really moves a price, and the mistakes that cost the most.
48
articles in this topic
151
articles, all topics
Advice
Documents to Sell in Geneva: The Complete File
Land register extract, OIBT, PPE documents — and the two documents everyone throws away even though they reduce the tax on resale. The complete…
Advice
Reselling shortly after buying in Geneva: the three counters
There is no legal holding period before reselling — but IBGI at 50%, the fixed-rate penalty and Casatax repayment all work against you. The…
Advice
Weighted Surface Area in Geneva: The Calculation, Step by Step
Balcony at half, garden at a tenth: how the m² of a PPE really add up — and why two listings never refer to…
Advice
Building Land in Geneva: Zones, Prices and Checks
Building zone, land use index, easements: how to verify that a plot is buildable — and why, in a development zone, its price is…
Advice
New-build property in Geneva: prices, off-plan sales, advice
Development zone with controlled prices or ordinary zone, off-plan purchase, guarantees: what you need to know before buying — or reselling — a new-build…
Advice
How to Sell Your House in Geneva: The Steps That Matter
From the right price to the notarial deed: the ten steps of a Geneva sale, the pre-emption right that can delay it, and what…
Advice
Choosing an estate broker in Geneva: what really sets them apart
Experience, network, listening skills: every agency ticks every box. What sets them apart is what an agency agrees to put in writing — and…
Advice
How Long to Sell in Geneva? The Real Timeframes
About three months to find the buyer, one to two more until completion: the average — and everything that stretches it or shortens it,…
Advice
Can a Property Sale Be Cancelled in Geneva?
Before the notarial deed, almost everything is still open; afterwards, almost nothing is — except hidden defects and defects of consent. The details, step…
Advice
Selling and buying at the same time: the transition guide
Four scenarios, an order to choose based on the market, bridge financing — and reinvestment relief that defers tax: the complete guide for seller-buyers.
Advice
Selling a Let Apartment in Geneva: Lease, LDTR, Vote
The lease survives the sale, the LDTR governs everything, and the vote on 27 September 2026 could change the picture: the guide for the…
Advice
How to negotiate the price of a house in Geneva?
Reading the balance of power, costing renovation work through quotes, knowing when there is no margin — the buyer's negotiation method, without illusions.
Advice
Cost of Building a House: Price per m² and m³
From 600 to 1'200 CHF/m³ depending on the standard, 5'000 to 10'000 CHF/m² excluding land: the real orders of magnitude, item by item —…
Advice
Selling Off-Market in Geneva: What Discretion Actually Protects
Off-market doesn't mean an invisible sale: in Geneva, acquisitions are published every Friday. What the method protects, what it doesn't, and what it costs.
Advice
The Guide to Real Estate in Geneva: Prices, Neighbourhoods, Method
What makes the Geneva market, prices commune by commune, the method for selling and buying, tax pitfalls: the starting point, all linked together.
Advice
Purchase Offer Received: Accept, Refuse or Counter?
What a purchase offer truly commits you to in Swiss law, how to read it beyond the price, and the rules for a counter-offer…
Advice
Notary in Geneva: role, fees and sale process
3% registration duty, degressive fees, mortgage certificate: what the notary costs in Geneva, who pays it — and why they hold back the seller's…
Advice
Mortgage Renewal in Geneva: When and How
The renewal date is prepared 12 to 24 months in advance. The timetable, the hidden cost of a reserved rate, and what happens if…
Advice
Diagnostics for selling in Geneva: what’s mandatory, what isn’t
Only one check is required by law when selling — the OIBT electrical inspection. CECB, asbestos, radon, lead: what's genuinely mandatory, recommended, or French.
Advice
Sole or Open Agency Agreement: What Swiss Law Really Says
The Code of Obligations says some very concrete things about your sales agreement with an agency — including this: exclusivity does not lock you…
Advice
Do you need a survey before buying a house in Geneva?
In Geneva, most deeds exclude the warranty against defects: the pre-purchase inspection is your only real protection. What it covers, what it costs.
Advice
LaMap × Rousseau 5: online valuation, then the expert
Three statistical models, seventy criteria, then an expert on site: how the LaMap–Rousseau 5 partnership values your property — and where its limits lie.
Advice
Mortgages in Geneva: ranks, rates and amortisation explained
First and second rank, fixed rate or SARON, withdrawal or pledge of the 2nd pillar: how a mortgage works — and what is decided…
Advice
Becoming a homeowner in Switzerland: the first-purchase route
Renting or buying, budget, pension provision — the exact rules for the 2nd pillar —, search, deed: the complete first-purchase journey, step by step.
Advice
Defending Your Sale Price in Geneva: The Method
A fair price, a margin decided with a cool head, ready answers to the buyer's three classic attacks: negotiation is won before the first…
Advice
AI in Swiss Real Estate: What It Does, What It’s Barred From
There is no Swiss law on AI yet. Here are the four places it works on this site, what data protection already requires, and…
Advice
Direct or Indirect Amortisation: Which to Choose in Geneva?
Repay the bank, or save into a pledged pillar 3a? The two mechanisms compared, their effect on Geneva wealth tax — and what 2029…
Advice
Property Valuation in Geneva: Values, Report, Uses
Estimate or valuation? Market value, intrinsic value, income value: what an expert calculates, what goes into the report, and when you need one.
Advice
Architecture and Heritage in Geneva: The Owner’s Guide
Old Town, Sardinian town, bourgeois apartment buildings, Le Corbusier's Clarté — and what a listing or registration changes when you buy or sell.
Advice
Living, Weighted, PPE or Usable Area: The Differences
Four measurements, four figures for the same flat. What each one counts, which appears in a Geneva listing, and which sets the price.
Advice
Mortgage Note: Definition, Cost and Use in Geneva
The title of pledge that secures your mortgage: what it is, what it costs at the notary, and why to keep it after repayment.
Advice
Calculating the Sale Price in Geneva: by m² and m³
Apartment by the weighted m², house by SIA m³ plus the land, rented property at yield value: the three calculations used by professionals, with…
Advice
Property sale contract in Geneva: promise and deed
From accepted offer to registration in the land register: the forms the contract can take, what it must contain, and the moment the buyer…
Advice
What Income Is Needed to Buy in Geneva? The Banks’ Calculation
Swiss banks all apply the same calculation: a theoretical rate of 5%, amortisation, upkeep. Here is the income required, price by price.
Advice
Geneva, a property history: what each era has built
From Roman Genava to the PAV: every era has left a layer of building still bought today — the old town, the Fazy belt,…
Advice
How to Choose an Estate Agency in Geneva
Five criteria you can verify — registered sales, municipality, valuation method, agreement, network — and the questions to ask before signing.
Advice
Selling a luxury property in Geneva: discretion and method
An exceptional property does not sell like a flat: rare buyers, mandatory discretion, prices with no comparables. The method, step by step.
Advice
Nautilus in Cologny: the iconic lakeside residence
Detached mansions overlooking the lake, architecture inspired by the open sea, absolute specifications: why Nautilus is Cologny's flagship project.
Advice
Lex Weber: the Geneva buyer’s guide
Municipalities at 20%, old-law dwellings freely purchasable, October 2024 revision: what the secondary residences law still allows.
Advice
The Geneva property market: understanding its dynamics
Why Geneva is so expensive, why averages tell you nothing, and what really moves prices — a municipality-by-municipality reading.
Advice
Building Permits in Geneva: The Real Timeline of a Project
APA, DD, DP, appeals: the LCI sets every stage and every deadline. Where the weeks of a Geneva project actually go — and which…
Advice
Due diligence in Geneva: the 5 laws that can block everything
Agricultural land, Lex Koller, Lex Weber, State pre-emption, LDTR: five regimes can stop or pre-empt your transaction. Check before you sign.
Advice
Reinvestment relief: deferring property gains tax in Geneva
Selling your main residence and buying again lets you defer the IBGI — five years to reinvest in Geneva. Conditions, deadlines and a worked…
Advice
Buying in Geneva: the property transaction from A to Z
From the search to registration at the land registry: the steps, the forms of ownership — PPE, superficie, co-ownership — the costs and the…
Advice
Financial capacity: how much can you buy in Geneva?
Own funds, 2nd pillar, theoretical rate of 5%, one-third ratio: how banks calculate your purchasing potential — full example at 2.5 million.
Advice
LFAIE (Lex Koller): who can buy property in Geneva?
Permit B, permit C, cross-border worker, foreign company: what the Lex Koller allows — and forbids — when buying a home in Geneva, case…
Advice
Home Staging in Geneva: Sell Better, Without Major Works
Decluttering, fixing the small things, revealing the light: what staging really changes in a sale — and the cases where it isn't the right…
Rousseau 5 — Estate agency, Geneva Left Bank
Rousseau 5 has been the high-end estate agency specialising in residential property on Geneva's Left Bank since 2012. Villas, apartments, penthouses and off-market opportunities — every mandate is handled by a dedicated broker with precise knowledge of Cologny, Champel, Chêne-Bougeries, Collonge-Bellerive, Vandœuvres and the whole lakeside area.