Zurich vacancy is expensive: at CHF 2,400/month gross rent, every 30 days of vacancy costs CHF 2,400.
Lever 1: list early
- 45 to 60 days before move-in is the sweet spot
- Earlier than 90 days adds noise from non-serious browsers
- Later than 30 days locks you into a thin candidate pool
Lever 2: a listing that screens itself
- 8 to 12 photos including kitchen, bathroom, all bedrooms, living, and exterior
- Clear hard requirements: income threshold, pets, household size, smoking, parking
- Realistic rent: at or just below the cantonal benchmark. Listings well above benchmark tend to stay online longer, and can be challenged by tenants as too high
- Multilingual description: add an English version if you want international applicants
- Fair by design: aptari refuses to publish a listing that filters on protected characteristics
Lever 3: Passport Apply
- A checked Tenant Passport per applicant
- A Match Score instantly
- Low-fit applicants self-select out (they see their score before applying)
- Documents already checked, no chase email
Lever 4: decide fast
- Briefing Agent (Enterprise plan) sends a daily ranked shortlist for each active listing
- Invite top 3-5 to a viewing within 24-48 hours
- Decide on the lease within 48 hours of the viewing
Most vacancy time is lost between viewing and decision, not between listing and application.
How long ads stay online
Across Switzerland a rental ad was online for 24 days on average, in Zürich 12 days (Online-Wohnungsindex of the industry associations SVIT and HEV and the portal newhome, April 2025 to March 2026). This measures how long an ad is online, not vacancy days. Every day at CHF 2,400 monthly gross rent is roughly CHF 80 of rent.
See how to list an apartment on aptari and how to attract good tenants.