Application letter and viewing: how to win over the cooperative

A vacant cooperative apartment in the city often attracts dozens, sometimes hundreds of households. The cooperative has to choose from this pile in a short time – and the first thing it does is weed out everything that is incomplete or does not meet its requirements. With a tidy application file and a personal letter you make it onto the shortlist. This guide shows you how a good cover letter (Motivationsschreiben) is structured, what matters at the viewing and how to follow up.

What cooperatives look for when choosing tenants

Cooperatives do not simply pick the household with the highest income. Most allocate their apartments according to letting regulations (Vermietungsreglement) that include other criteria besides finances:

• Occupancy: does the number of people match the number of rooms? Many cooperatives require a minimum occupancy; a common rule of thumb is "rooms minus one".
• Affordability: can you pay the rent in the long term? A rule of thumb of about one third of income is often used.
• Payment record: your debt collection register extract (Betreibungsregisterauszug) should be clean.
• Social mix: many cooperatives want a range of households in a housing estate – families, couples, single people, different age groups.
• Internal applicants: members who want to move within the cooperative often have priority.
• Subsidised apartments: here income and wealth limits and sometimes residence rules apply as well.

Read the listing and – if there is one – the letting regulations carefully before you apply. You can find out more about the rules in the guide Occupancy rules and income limits.

Before you write: have your application file ready

Even the best letter is of little use if documents are missing. Have the cooperative's application form, a recent debt collection register extract, proof of income, a copy of your ID and – for subsidised apartments – your latest tax assessment ready. Our checklist for your application file shows exactly which documents belong in it and what to watch out for with each one.

The debt collection register extract is issued by the debt collection office (Betreibungsamt) of the municipality where you live, and in many cantons it can also be ordered online. The fee is the same throughout Switzerland: CHF 17 for the extract, CHF 18 including delivery by post, fax or electronically, and CHF 22 for delivery by registered post (Art. 12a GebV SchKG, in German). If you have moved in recent years, you may also need an extract from your previous place of residence.

The cover letter: short, personal, specific

The letter is your chance to stand out from the pile. The management office reads it in a few seconds, so it has to show at a glance who you are and why you are a good fit for this apartment.

A proven structure

1. Opening: which apartment are you applying for (address, number of rooms, reference number)?
2. Who are you? The people in the household, the children's ages, your jobs – short and likeable.
3. Why this apartment? For example your commute, school, being close to family, a size that fits your household.
4. Why this cooperative? What do you like about it – the housing estate, its mission statement, the community activities?
5. What do you bring? Involvement in the neighbourhood, a club or the estate committee, practical or organisational skills.
6. Closing: a note that your application file is complete, your availability for a viewing, your contact details.

Common mistakes

• An interchangeable form letter that does not even mention the cooperative by name
• More than one page of text
• Spelling mistakes or incorrect details about the apartment
• Promises that are not credible ("We will get involved in every committee")
• No details about the size of the household, even though occupancy is decisive

If you find it hard to put things into words, our AI application letter generator can help: it creates a personal draft from your details and the listing, which you then adapt.

Timing: why the first few days count

Many cooperatives advertise an apartment for only a few days or close the application phase as soon as enough applications have come in. Some draw lots for viewing slots among the first people to register. If you only respond after a week, you are often too late.

That is why it pays to have your application file ready before you start searching and to see new listings early. On Laos.io you can set up a search alert for this: you choose the region, number of rooms and budget. With Premium (CHF 15 a month, 5-day free trial) you are notified by e-mail or WhatsApp as soon as we pick up a matching apartment; without Premium, you see new listings on Laos.io after 24 hours.

What cooperatives require – data from Laos.io

In our directory, 466 cooperatives have published their membership requirements. The ones they mention most often are:

The fact that only some of them explicitly mention a debt collection register extract does not mean the others do without it – it is often only requested in the application form. So it is best to always include one.

Speed matters: on the property portals, 16% of listings for cooperative apartments are offline again after one day, and the median listing stays online for 8.1 days (n = 2,984). New listings appear almost only on weekdays – just 7% are published at the weekend. Most move-in dates are at the start of a month: 66% fall on the first of a month, 27% on the 15th or 16th.

Membership requirements: information from the cooperatives in our directory, classified by keywords. Time online: 2,984 ended listings on Homegate, ImmoScout24, Flatfox and Newhome since 3 Oct 2025. Weekday: publication time according to the portal (6,292 listings). As of 3 Oct 2026.

The viewing and the personal interview

Not every cooperative holds a viewing before it makes its choice – sometimes the viewing only takes place after a first selection. If you are invited:

• Be on time and, if possible, bring everyone who will be moving in.
• Bring your documents – printed out, in case the cooperative collects the application file on site.
• Prepare questions: about the amount of the share certificates (Anteilscheine), the service charges (Nebenkosten), the move-in date, the communal rooms.
• Show interest without being pushy. Cooperatives are looking for people who will stay for the long term and feel at home.

Some cooperatives also hold a short interview. Typical questions are: why do you want to live in a cooperative? How do you picture living together in the housing estate? What is your financial situation? Honest, specific answers come across better than sentences learned by heart.

Following up: friendly and brief

If you have not heard anything after the deadline in the listing, you may follow up once, briefly – by e-mail or phone, stating the apartment's address and your name. Ask whether your documents arrived complete and by when the cooperative will decide. Chasing repeatedly, on the other hand, tends to come across as pushy.

After acceptance: membership and share certificates

If you get the apartment, you become a member of the cooperative – if you are not one already – and pay the share capital (Anteilscheinkapital). Depending on the apartment, this ranges from a few thousand to several tens of thousands of francs; the amount is usually due before you move in. So plan the financing early. The guide to share certificates explains how.

What to do after a rejection

Rejections are part of the process – for popular apartments, only one household wins in the end. Don't be discouraged:

• Ask politely whether you can be noted for similar apartments or whether the cooperative keeps an interest list (Interessentenliste).
• Review your criteria: other neighbourhoods, municipalities or apartment sizes increase your chances considerably.
• Improve your application file step by step instead of starting from scratch each time.
• Keep at it: if you respond regularly and quickly, your turn will come eventually.

You can read more about strategy in the guide How to get a cooperative apartment and in the guide to waiting lists. You can find all available apartments in the overview of cooperative apartments, for example in the canton of Zurich or in Bern.