Spanish cheque to my UK account

stuartpage

Hi,
I am about to complete the sale of an apartment in Spain.
I will be there in person to complete the transaction and receive the cheque.

I will be given a cheque in Euros, issued by Liberbank.

What are the steps and most cost effective way to get this into my UK account?

Many thanks for your help.
Stuart

sevenhills

stuartpage wrote: »

Hi,
I am about to complete the sale of an apartment in Spain.
I will be there in person to complete the transaction and receive the cheque.

Will you be waiting for the cheque to clear before you sign on the dotted line?

davidmcn

sevenhills wrote: »

Will you be waiting for the cheque to clear before you sign on the dotted line?

If the cheque has actually been "issued by Liberbank" then I presume it's a bankers draft rather than one written by the purchaser, so clearance shouldn't be a concern (subject to the Spanish banking system going into meltdown). Whether the OP is safe to treat the transaction as complete is really a question for their abogado.

stuartpage

sevenhills wrote: »

Will you be waiting for the cheque to clear before you sign on the dotted line?

This is a good question - and makes a lot of sense - Have you had experience in this type of transaction before? Thanks

stuartpage

davidmcn wrote: »

If the cheque has actually been "issued by Liberbank" then I presume it's a bankers draft rather than one written by the purchaser, so clearance should be a concern (subject to the Spanish banking system going into meltdown). Whether the OP is safe to treat the transaction as complete is really a question for their abogado.

Thanks - just to check - did you mean it shouldn't be a concern?
If a bankers draft - do I need an Account in a Spanish Bank or can I transfer into a UK bank.
Also, since this will be issued in Euros, how best should I deal with the exchange into Sterling from a bank charges perspective? Thank

davidmcn

stuartpage wrote: »

Thanks - just to check - did you mean it shouldn't be a concern?

Yes, already edited...

No idea about best way of exchanging the funds, sorry. I think UK current accounts will normally accept foreign cheques, at a price - check your own bank's tariff of charges.

Does it need to be paid to you by cheque rather than a bank transfer? Might make a difference to the costs.

agrinnall

If you have an apartment in Spain do you not already have a Spanish bank account, for paying bills etc.? If you do then I'd say the most cost effective (and possibly quickest) solution is to pay the cheque into your account, wait for it to clear, then use something like Transferwise to transfer the balance back to a UK sterling account at the lowest cost and best exchange rate.

G_M

I think understanding the Spanish sales process and ensuring you have received cleared funds before Completing the sale is far more critical than the transfer back to the UK.


But yes, pay it into your Spanish account. Then use one of the commercial money transfer services rather than bank transfer - better exchange rates and fees I understand.


eg


https://www.money.co.uk/money-transfers/online-money-transfers-abroad.htm

AlexMac

What G_M sez-

When I sold an Italian property, I used Moneycorp, a UK-based FX service (much better than my own UK based bank), who advised me on practicalities. I ended up opening an Italian bank account, depositing the cheque, instructing a transfer to Moneycorp then immediately closing the account (as I wasn't continuing with an overseas property).

Other FX services exist, but I found Moneycorp very efficient - although as Martin's guide to FX says, they are not "protected" like UK Banks, they have been around for years and years if you do a Companies House search on 'em, so probably won't go bust in the few days they have your money

brianposter

Moneycorp have a Spanish office so I suspect you can pay a cheque direct into their account, so the obvious thing to do is ring them.
https://global.moneycorp.com/spain/personal/


Please let us know your conclusion.

martindow

davidmcn wrote: »

I think UK current accounts will normally accept foreign cheques, at a price - check your own bank's tariff of charges.

Although the UK bank will probably accept it there is no 2-4-6 system with a time-scale for clearing it. In theory it can be reclaimed almost indefinitely. This is a risky way of receiving the payment especially for a very large sum.