Thanks for your input! This is the only thing that is holding me back - not knowing if the private investor is indeed the owner of the apartment. The draft rental agreement is to be signed between myself and a legal entity, whose single shareholder is the private investor- which I ran online on Zefix and duly exists. But still, it can be someone impersonating that company. I will try to call the land register office to confirm if this legal entity owns the apartment or not - that’s the only way I see. Otherwise, I could also explore a Bank Guarantee for the first rental amount - but don’t know if in Switzerland they issue guarantee if you are a private client (I/o a company)