How does one.....

I could be wrong (it's quite a while since I spent much time in Switzerland) but doesn't each canton have it's own rules governing the buying of property by foreigners?

We bought in La Tzoumaz (4 Valleys) in 2003, fortunately when there were 2.33 CHF to £1 rather than the current 1.75 although that's up from 1.52 last December (i.e. it's steadily improving). Generally, foreigners not resident on work permits or intending to become domiciled can only buy in designated areas in any canton. These are generally holiday areas such as the ones I imagine you're considering. The option of buying a residential place in a valley and driving is not likely to be viable, unless the valley location itself is designated a tourist area. A property needs to carry a permit for foreign ownership (it's the property which gets the permit, not the owner). In the Valais (Verbier, Nendaz, La Tzoumaz, Les Collons, Crans-Montana, Champery etc) you'll see the estate agents (immobiliers) websites and offices indicate a property or off-plan is 'Vente a étrangers' i.e. for sale to foreigners with a permit assigned to the property or in the process of being granted. The cantons control strictly how many new permits are granted every year, and in the last 2-3 years the backlog has built up, due both to general popularity of Switzerland and a Cantonal desire not to over-develop. Moreover, it seems common for the canton to impose a rule that you can't sell-on for 5 years (or whatever) from the date of the permit grant/transfer.

If you're buying an existing licensed property, the process is fairly streamlined. It took us all of 2½ hours from walking into the immobilier, through viewing the apartment, to signing the documents and getting the keys. Not bad. In the Swiss Romande, the same notary (notaire) acts for both buyer and seller and is accredited by the canton. If you have the cash then all the paperwork goes on to the notaire who enforces settlement and would deal with any issues like non-payment, building problems, etc. Once you sign the paperwork with the immobilier you are committed and can't back out without the notaire enforcing a penalty. My understanding is that there's no concept of hiring your own legal eagle, as the notaire is an independent, accredited legal representative. Once you pay up you get the requisite legal documents from the notaire. If you buy an apartment in a block, you would be a 'co-proprietaire' i.e. a co-owner of the building along with the other owners and and a 'PPE' or proprietaire par etage literally 'owner by floor'. I like the mechanism of quoting the useable area in M2 which makes cost comparison much easier than in the UK.

Swiss builders usually provide more generous M2 per room than in French ski property e.g. our 68M2 apartment with 2 bedrooms in Switzerland would probably be divided into three bedrooms in France. Also, Swiss adverts usually don't include the basement storage area ('cave') or parking in the quoted M2 while I've seen some French adverts do so, but be careful to check in any case. The immobilier also organised a bank account for us, for bill payments and rental income: the Swiss bank thing is often overstated - it's no more difficult to open a standard Swiss bank account than it is a UK one. However, you will probably have to give the agency access to your account if you expect them to pay bills on your behalf and accept rents. One convenience is that you should expect to get a debit card with the account which can be quite useful, as some Swiss shops don't take credit cards.

If you are taking out a Swiss mortgage the process may take somewhat longer and definitely will involve more communications with both the bank and a notaire. The process is just like the UK, with you providing financial details to the bank, and signing documents with the notaire. To avoid having to travel over it is common practice for the notaire to ask you to assign certain legal powers to a paralegal representative. You may also have to meet a bank representative in person, just as you'd expect to in the UK. We switched our mortgage from the UK to Switzerland and it was all straightforward. Generally, if you have a mortgage with a swiss bank you would be exempt from bank charges.

I've not bought off-plan so I can't talk from personal experience. However I have met people who have done so without the permit having been issued, as it's been in the backlog. This seems to be OK but the date on which the permit is granted to you (or transferred) is often used as part of a rule where you can't sell-on for 5 years subsequently (or however long it is in your canton). Basically, you need to get a very clear idea from the immobilier of how this will work if you're buying off-plan. I have heard feedback from people who've waited 3-4 years for their permit to come through at which point the 5-year resale clock starts ticking, which you might consider too limiting a constraint. Remember that the mountain building season is relatively short and that it can take a 2-3 summers before an off-plan property is complete, especially if the spring/autumn weather is bad.

If you're buying a chalet and grounds, some cantons also limit the total ground area for a foreign buyer. Numbers I've come across have been around the 600M2 mark. Obviously, you'd need to check in your case.

There's also a limitation - not sure if it's cantonal or national - that you can only own one property. You may say "if only" now but you never know, in the future you might like to buy another apartment in the Italian lakes area (the Ticino - like Lake Maggiore) etc. Essentially you can't.

Overall, we found it astonishingly easy to buy an existing holiday property, but this was six years ago and we had UK funding lined-up already. Expect it to be more involved if you are organising a Swiss mortgage (hypotheque) and if you're buying off-plan. DON'T be seduced by estate agencies catering specifically to the English market who invariably try to sell only their own property portfolio (obviously) and generally seem to inflate the CHF/M2 cost.

If you plan to use the property in the summer, bear in mind that there's an often dramatic change in some resorts when the winter/summer seasons end, with the place going very quiet. If you want to use the place in the summer then a big factor will be whether the lifts are running. Where we are it's only July-August while in adjacent Verbier they run for longer.

Overall, my advice is to stand back from contacting any estate agents until you have decided on the location you want and done some work to look at different CHF/M2 prices and see what's on the market. We visited first and went round a few resorts, then sat down at home and narrowed it down to 2-3 locations and then did another tour, before going into any immobiliers.

FInally, I discalaim all responsibilty for the accuracy of any information and recommendations. Things have changed in the past few years and the buying conditions now may be different than for us, and of course, our requirements and preferences will be different to yours. Also bear in mind that wherever you buy property there is always the possibilty of a bad experience and a dishonest builder/ agent/ notary.

Yes, things have definitely changed. We waited 26 months for the issue of a permit, prior to completing in Feb 08. Since the changes in the interpretation of Lex Koller, we simply would not now have the option of buying a used apartment from a Swiss, and joining a waiting list. These days, batches of permits are handed to builders who are constructing projects deemed to be of "Cantonal Interest" ie: warm beds/aparthotel/timeshare.
As for banking, it's not got any easier. I approached a number of well known banks asking for a simple bill payment account. They were all happy to provide an account, as long as between chf 25k-100k was deposited with them, which they would then invest on the Money Markets. We were lucky to get a recommendation for a small local bank, who were more understanding.
Last time I looked, ownership tie-in was 10 years.

Wow, some great information and advice!! Seems like the process is not so simple, least of which is finding a place where you can actually move into. I have looked at some agents websites just to get an idea, and it seems most indicate which properties have a permit allowing sale to a foreigner, but its not very many!! Am hoping also if I do go ahead that I can arrange finance through my bank, either locally in Germany or through thier international operations (Deutsche Bank) but again I am not sure how/if this works.

Also, beware the 'leaseback' option in Switzerland. In France, this seems to have some genuine return as it's a n official mechanism for you to avoid paying VAT when renting-out (so as to encourage rental of new properties). Elsewhere, it's just a sales ploy, not an official programme - You hand over the rental to the developer or selected agency, pick a couple of weeks for yourself, and they guarantee to pay you so much per week (usually in the high season only). I don't like it because in reality there's a good chance the place may actually be empty and that you could use it, but you're prohibited. It's just a mechanism to make the immobilier's like easier by having a pool of empty places.