hi, my family and i (DP+DS) have lived in stockholm for the last 2.5 years (americans), and we have been renting for the whole time through our company and had been looking to purchase a place since our contract is coming to an end.
your swedish partner will know alot more about the local practices such as Bostadsförmedlingen, but generally speaking you have 3 options -
- rent a place using the public queue (Bostadsförmedlingen): positives - much cheaper rent, negatives - queue can be 20+ years long in the city (this is not an exaggeration or joke - parents put their babies into queue when they are born)
- rent a place directly from the landlord, aka "second-hand": positives - avoid lengthy queues, possibly more inventory/choices depending on the neighborhood, negatives - expensive, you can expect anywhere between 1.5x - 3x the Bostadsförmedlingen rental price, also you may be forced to move (in worst cases) every year as there are restrictions on how long a landlord can rent their place out for
- buy a place, positives - quality of interior is usually much nicer, far more inventory than renting, monthly mortgage will be on the order of public queue renting and you get tax benefits, and low interest rates, negatives - expensive property prices only continue to go up (positive reselling later but with risk), large down payment required as minimum (15%) up to 50% (to get the absolute lowest blended interest rate)
with regards to difficulty - because your partner is swedish you will/should avoid alot of the pitfalls and confusing caveats that comes with the housing market here in stockholm.
i would really suggest eliminating a few variables by setting your budget, desired location, size of dwelling, etc. and then go from there.
one thing to note is that unlike other countries much of the legwork is done by YOU, so realtor-led house finding is practically non-existent.
use
//www.hemnet.se as your main search engine, then when you find a place, contact the agent listed on that property and start from there.
one thing to note is don't underestimate proximity to t-bana (subway), pendeltåg (surface train), or buses. being very near transportation points potentially shaves off anywhere between 10-15 mins to an hour per day which adds up REALLY quickly. another thing to think of is proximity to förskola (pre-school) depending on the age of your kids, but this is completely not in your control as the queue for förskolan is both terrible and frustrating.
good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!