Owning a property with your partner is often seen as an emotional as well as a financial commitment. What do you need to think about?

If you know you’re able to afford the costs of buying a home together, you’re pretty comfortable about sharing your living space and you’ve saved up for a chunky deposit, taking the next step is likely to be a positive move. OK, so you may not have the same ideas about tidiness but if you’re happy to compromise or you can turn a blind eye to your partner’s obvious failings... you’re on the way towards a harmonious home. But what should you consider before you start searching online or doing a grand tour of estate agents’ windows?

Preparations before you buy
Owning a property together is different to paying rent every month. For most couples, buying a home together is the biggest financial commitment they make.

So what should you think about before you say ‘I do’....to a joint mortgage?

• Make sure you have a large enough deposit. Competition has increased in the mortgage market in the last six months or so and you'll no longer need a 40% deposit to get the best rates, but you’ll still need around 30%.

SAVVY TIP: An increasing number of parents help their children with a deposit for their first home, but it can cause problems if you don't have ground rules. Depending on the personalities involved, the parent lending or giving the deposit may feel that the property is theirs and that they can make decisions about it on your behalf (this happened to some friends of mine). If it's a loan, it's easier for you to be firm.

• Budget for the extras, such as mortgage arrangement fees, stamp duty, a survey, legal fees and removal costs.

SAVVY TIP: If you’re using a mortgage broker you may also have to pay a fee or commission for the advice. Some brokers work on a fee-free basis, some charge a fee and others charge a percentage of the mortgage and you have to be given this information upfront. You can find a broker through Unbiased.co.uk. Be sure to ask them whether they cover the whole of the mortgage market or just sell products from a limited panel of lenders.

• Check your credit files. It’s worth checking your credit file from time to time anyway, but if you’re hoping to get a joint mortgage, it’s important to get a copy of your file from each of the three credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax and Call Credit). You have the right, by law, to see a copy of it for £2.

SAVVY TIP: If you and your partner already have joint loans or accounts with a credit facility, your credit files will be linked. It means a lender will be told that you and your partner are financially linked and they have the right to check both your credit files if they want to.

Sorting out the mortgage
Getting a mortgage is a little easier now than it's been for the last couple of years but lenders are still checking borrowers credit files, bank accounts etc carefully. It's possible to borrow up to 90% of the property's value, although having a bigger deposit is definitely recommended as you'll pay a premium for borrowing such a large loan to value mortgage.

• Consider how you want to finance the property. Depending on your circumstances, you may be better off borrowing the money as a joint mortgage or just in one person’s name. Lenders will normally lend up to four times one person's income or up to 2.8 times joint incomes. I know of couples where one person earns significantly more than the other or where one has recently set up their own business when it has made more sense to borrow in the name of the higher earner.

SAVVY TIP: Most mortgage lenders work on the basis of affordability, which means they look at how much you earn and how much you spend on fixed costs (including credit cards, council tax, child care or child maintenance). You can work out how much you can borrow by using SavvyWoman's borrow amount calculator, and find out how much it would cost by using the loan cost calculator.

• What type of mortgage will you choose? If you’re concerned about unexpected mortgage rate rises, you may want to opt for the security of a fixed rate (although they are often significantly more expensive than tracker or discount rate mortgages). How would you feel if your partner wants a tracker rate?

SAVVY TIP: It’s worth doing some maths to work out what the effect of a 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% interest rate rise would be. If you still can’t agree, ask your lender or broker if you can split the mortgage and put 50% on a fixed rate and 50% on a discount, tracker or variable rate.

• How quickly do you want to repay the mortgage? Paying off the mortgage quickly will save you thousands (if not tens of thousands) in interest.

SAVVY TIP: Even if you want to pay your mortgage off quickly, it’s often better to go for a longer term and make overpayments rather than being tied into paying it off at a level that may become unaffordable if your circumstances change.

• Talk about how much you want to spend after you’ve moved in. Are you the kind of person who is happy to buy from eBay or gumtree or are you happy to splash the cash?

SAVVY TIP: This may feel like a relatively minor matter, but a few years ago some work colleagues spent thousands of pounds furnishing and renovating their first home together. One partner ended up feeling resentful of the other for spending money they could not afford.

SAVVY HELP: Ray Boulger, of mortgage brokers John Charcol, is one of SavvyWoman’s panel of experts. Why not ask Ray a question by clicking here?