{"id":5685,"date":"2023-09-04T19:45:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/?p=5685"},"modified":"2023-09-04T19:45:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T18:45:54","slug":"six-must-ask-questions-for-couples-buying-a-property-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/six-must-ask-questions-for-couples-buying-a-property-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Must-Ask Questions for Couples Buying a Property Together"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span style=\"color: #618899;\">Buying a property with a partner can be an exciting next step in a relationship.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Swapping paying rent or living with family for cosy nights with your beloved in your own home can be a blissful prospect. But before you arrange a series of viewings in a giddy rush of excitement, it\u2019s worth sitting down and talking a few things through with your partner.<\/p>\n<p>Purchasing a property is a huge commitment, yet most couples spend more time planning a holiday (7.8 hours) than planning their home search (5.5 hours).* Getting some of the practical stuff nailed down early on will help you focus your search efforts and avoid arguments along the way. Some of these questions may seem awkward, but once you\u2019ve got through them, you can get on with the fun of searching for your new home together.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #618899;\">Here are six questions to ask.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>What is your financial situation? <\/strong><\/span>Many couples shy away from discussing money matters, but it\u2019s essential you both disclose your income, savings and debts, as this will affect how much you can borrow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #bda762;\">How will we split ownership?<\/span> <\/strong>Most couples opt for a straightforward 50\/50 split. But if one party has a larger deposit or earns significantly more, some couples strike a different arrangement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #bda762;\">How will we split the bills?<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Agree on how you\u2019ll cover mortgage repayments, council tax, utilities and food. Having some funds in reserve is also good, as you\u2019ll be responsible for maintenance and repairs in your new home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>What are your long-term plans? <\/strong><\/span>You\u2019re obviously committed to each other, but it\u2019s still important to explore where you see yourselves in five or ten years. If you plan to have children or get a pet, this will influence your choice of property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>How much DIY are you prepared to do? <\/strong><\/span>A doer-upper can be a great investment if you\u2019re willing to do some of the renovation work yourself. But DIY can be messy and time-consuming, so it\u2019s vital you both know what\u2019s involved before you go down this route.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>Shall we get a cohabitation agreement? <\/strong><\/span>This legal document outlines the property\u2019s ownership split and each party\u2019s financial responsibilities. If you later break up, it will help avoid disagreement. Discussing such a possibility may seem like a passion killer, but it can also give you both peace of mind. If family members have stumped up the cash to help with the deposit, they may insist on it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #618899;\"><strong>If you\u2019re a first-time buyer looking for a property, contact us here at Crane &amp; Co today.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>* Zoopla<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buying a property with a partner can be an exciting next step in a relationship. Swapping paying rent or living with family for cosy nights with your beloved in your own home can be a blissful prospect. But before you arrange a series of viewings in a giddy rush of excitement, it\u2019s worth sitting down [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[8,23,25],"class_list":["post-5685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moving-home-advice-and-guidance","category-personal-advice-from-our-team","tag-advice","tag-first-time-buyer","tag-jerry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5687,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions\/5687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}