Property readiness: what would a purchase consume?

The bank can tell you whether a mortgage fits its rules. It cannot tell you whether the home fits the rest of your financial life.

Property readiness belongs in the baseline only when property is actually a goal. If you are happily renting, skip the theatre. If buying is on the horizon, the useful question is wider than "How much could we borrow?"

1. Start with the capital the purchase would absorb

For owner-occupied property in Switzerland, buyers generally need around 20% of the purchase price as own capital, with conditions on how much can come from pension assets. That headline matters — but so does what happens to the household after the capital leaves cash or investments.

List the available own funds by source: accessible cash, investments, Pillar 3a, possible Pillar 2 use, gifts or other sources. Then mark which of those sources you would actually be willing to consume.

2. Protect post-purchase liquidity

A household can meet an equity requirement and still emerge from the transaction financially brittle. Keep a separate line for the liquidity that should remain after purchase, fees, moving and immediate property costs. "Technically available for the deposit" is not the same as "sensible to spend".

3. Mortgage affordability is one test, not the household test

Swiss mortgage lenders use affordability tests and financing rules that are intentionally more conservative than the current monthly interest bill. Passing that test is necessary for many buyers. It does not settle what the household wants to preserve for children, career flexibility, investing, retirement or simply sleep.

4. Add the opportunity cost

Capital used for the deposit, purchase costs and post-purchase reserve cannot simultaneously remain in cash or investments. That does not make buying "wrong"; it makes the trade-off measurable. Compare the property path with the alternative use of the same capital and cashflow. The useful question is not simply whether property may rise in value, but what return, liquidity and optionality the household is giving up elsewhere.

5. Pension use changes another part of the baseline

If Pillar 2 or Pillar 3a money becomes part of the financing plan, the property decision is also a retirement-asset decision. That does not make pension use wrong. It makes "home" and "pension" one connected question rather than two separate tabs.

6. Property readiness should have an off switch

If property is not an active goal, the baseline should not manufacture a deficiency because you do not own a home. Renting is a housing choice, not a failed property module.

Control question — After the purchase, what would be left in accessible cash, what long-term assets would have changed, what return or flexibility would the alternative capital use have offered, and which other goals would now have less funding? Then ask the bigger question: what are we optimising for?

Official sources

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Bring cashflow, liquidity, pensions, investments and property (if relevant) together in The Navinua Financial Baseline guide. If you prefer the interactive diagnostic, the Navinua Wealth Check is the next application layer.