3 Useful tips to remember on saving money when buying or selling a property overseas

I have worked with thousands of clients over the years who have either purchased, sold, rented or invested in a property outside of their country of residence, and the exchange rates have always played a massive part in this particular market. If you are currently in a similar situation, then I have listed below some tips that can help you save as much money as possible;

1) Exchange rates move every 2-3 seconds. When you are on a viewing trip, you will find that you are working out the cost of your property on current exchange rates- please be aware that exchange rates move every few seconds and by the time that you are back home from your trip the price of your property may have changed. Example- The GBPEUR exchange rate was at 1.26 in December, and was at 1.31 by mid January- so on 100,000 Euros the Sterling cost was now around £3000 cheaper. 

2) When is your completion due? Naturally, most people will wait until a couple of days before their completion to start sending their funds over to pay for the property-(Nobody wants to pay before they are supposed to!) However, this may not always be the best method to get the best exchange rate, as mentioned above, the market moves every 2-3 seconds, and can move against you, there are financial tools such as forward contracts, limit orders & stop losses that can help you lock in the best exchange rate for a small deposit for 3 years! This way you can have peace of mind that you have secured the best exchange rate, and even if the market moves against you, your price will not be affected.

3) How will you send your funds? The initial way most people will think of to send money abroad will almost always be their bank; however it is worth noting that most banks can take a spread of up to 7% on exchange rates, usually charge around£10-£50 for the transaction and the funds usually take 3-5 days to reach the beneficiary account. There are providers who specialise in foreign currency (such as myself) who can assist you with getting a much better exchange rate, and giving you a cost free transaction, with a same day payment. I usually find that we save clients anything from £3000- £6000 for every £100,000 that they are converting into a foreign currency with their bank or another provider.

These three tips will help you in obtaining the best exchange rate when purchasing a property and not having to pay over your budget when completing, if you would like some more tips on how to save money on your currency or if you would like to have a chat about how I can help your particular situation then please do not hesitate to contact me either on here or you can phone/email me.

Tel- (+44 1322 319 550)

Email- prem.raja@currencies4you.com

Website- www.thecurrencyblog.com