Buying in Spain - pounds to euros

stephenl1892

I'm hoping to buy a property in Spain using the proceeds of a UK sale to fund the deposit. I'm pretty clear on Spanish system & working closely with someone based out there. My query regards the best way to get my pounds sterling into euros as I'll need to pay deposit etc. in that currency. In addition, my partner will be renting her UK property once we move & we intend to use the profit from that to part fund the Spanish mortgage so we will (on an ongoing basis) have the same problem. I'm loathe to lose lots of money through poor exchange rates &/or excessive charges. Any ideas?

anselld

No idea on exchange rates but here is some bedtime reading on the rental tax issues ....
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm

missile

Use a currency exchange service e.g. www.forex.com


Open an account in Spain with Barclays.es - they will accept UK check and credit your Spanish account with euros with zero charge and pay 2% on your DDs. http://publico.barclays.es/en/index.html

benjus

missile wrote: »

Open an account in Spain with Barclays.es - they will accept UK check and credit your Spanish account with euros with zero charge and pay 2% on your DDs. http://publico.barclays.es/en/index.html

Bear in mind that Barclays Spain is being sold to CaixaBank, with the sale expected to complete by the end of this year - so the conditions and services may change.

Lord_Baltimore

Is buying in Spain a sensible economic prospect? I realise this isn't what you've asked but...

Splatt

Hi Stephen,
I made the move to Spain in 2007 so I have a bit of experience with currency exchange.
I would shop around the specialist currency brokers and get quotes from a few before you commit to using one. If the amounts involved are substantial then you should be seeing rates that are very close to interbank rates (these are the rates you see when you google the exchange rate).
I have used Voltrex (I think they are called VFX now) and have been happy with their service. There are many, many more though.

As for Barclays in Spain, that is now nothing to do with Barclays in the UK. It has been purchased by Caixa bank. So again, shop around and get recommendations. Some of the Spanish banks I have experience with are truly woeful and can redefine your expectations of customer service. Think of your worst banking experience, multiply that by ten and expect that on a daily basis.
I am now with Deutsche bank and am happy with them.

As with everything, do your research, and get recommendations from people in the town you are moving to. You can't beat local knowledge!

Good luck!
Steve.

mrsmazza

We have a holiday home in Spain near Alicante .We opened a Spanish bank account , all bills etc come out of that,we transfer a lump sum over about once a year.

Where our holiday home is, the prices are picking up, there are a lot of Russians buying there.

stephenl1892

Thanks. So, would I transfer money in pounds from my UK bank account to the company handling the transfer, who then transfer this to my Spanish account? Apologies if these are stupid questions.

Talc1234

I used currenciesdirect.com to exchange Polish Zloty to Pounds when I sold my Warsaw flat. However there are others who offer a similar service

Much much better exchange rate than using a bank I probably saved £2K using them.

They will offer you an exchange rate. If you agree it is fixed and you transfer to their account and they will pay you the recipient currency, was very smooth for me

Talc1234

stephenl1892 wrote: »

Thanks. So, would I transfer money in pounds from my UK bank account to the company handling the transfer, who then transfer this to my Spanish account? Apologies if these are stupid questions.

That's how it works

kinger101

I've used xetrade before. When you do transfer money, don't just look at the charges, but the foreign exchange rates. Some of the rates offered by banks are dreadful.

A number of UK banks offer Euro accounts, but I'm not sure how much the bank charges are.