Proceeds from Spanish property sale - HOW TO GET FUNDS TO UK AT BEST RATE/LEAST COST?

Doraemon72

Hi All,

Many thanks firstly for reading.

Basically, I write really on behalf of my recently-bereaved mother, whose finances I am trying to safeguard now that my father has passed away.

Specifically, I have posted in regard to having secured a purchaser for my parents' Spanish property and with regard to getting the net proceeds from any successful sale (fingers crossed!) back to the UK at the best exchange rate and where costs for any such service are to a minimum.

So...

... may I just ask whether anyone might have been in a similar position recently and whether they might be able to recommend a company which has a good track record for facilitating this kind of thing? The amount I am potentially needing to return to the UK (into Sterling) is EUR 75,000.00.

My main concern is to avoid horrendous exchange rates offered by my parents' local Spanish bank (into which, I assume, my solicitor will eventually deposit the net proceeds from the sale) and associated costs to send this money back to a UK bank.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks again for reading!

Thrugelmir

Doraemon72 wrote: »

My main concern is to avoid horrendous exchange rates offered by my parents' local Spanish bank (into which, I assume, my solicitor will eventually deposit the net proceeds from the sale) and associated costs to send this money back to a UK bank.

What do you regard as horrendous?

missile

Hi,

Good luck selling. You may find it is not so easy.

I researched and used various exchange houses, but the best way (for me) was to open an offshore euro account with LTSB and charge free transfer from Barclays.es to LTSB Offshore then exchange to £ and charge free transfer to my LTSB UK account.

You may also wish to consider Money Corp > http://www.moneycorp.com/uk/contact-us/spain/ They have a deal with Caja Murcia which avoids the charges usually levied by a.n.other spanish banks. This deal may no longer be available?

G_M

You'd do best posting in the banking forum. This is not really a property matter.

rosehip

Have you/your mother considered opening a euro currency account with a UK bank (I know Barclays and HSBC offer this facility and probably the other high st banks do as well)? You could then request the Spanish bank to make the transfer to the UK in euros - hopefully charges shouldn't be too high as no exchange rate involved. Then you can transfer the euros from the currency a/c to your UK sterling a/c at the "spot" rate as you see fit. I know the UK banks do levy charges for maintaining currency accounts, which you'd need to check up on, but it might be worth looking into.

Doraemon72

Thank you ALL for your advice and comments -- it is so greatly appreciated!

Simon