Friends selling in France, best way to transfer Euros to GBP on completion?

wockawocka

eddddy said:

wockawocka said:

Friends are selling their gite in France and that looks to complete in July. The sale is in Euros and I was asked today what the best way to transfer this to a UK bank account would be in order to get the most favourable exchange rate?

Based on my very limited experience of selling property in France...

The buyer transferred funds to the Notaire. Then, when everything is signed etc, the Notaire transferred funds to the seller.

Do your friends have a bank account in France?

If not, double-check with the Notaire what their requirements are for transferring the money to the seller. I imagine the Notaire will be happy to transfer to a UK (Euro) account, if your friends provide IBAN numbers etc. (I don't know if they'll ask for evidence that the account really belongs to the sellers, etc. e.g. If the property is jointly owned, then the account must be a joint account, etc.)

Although in my experience, things like that are generally more lax in France compared to the UK. 


And according to this article, a French Notaire fell for an email scam as recently as 2020. I think UK solicitors have been wise to that scam for many years: https://www.french-property.com/news/french_property/sale_proceeds_pirated_notaire

(So maybe tell your friends to be extra cautious!)
 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, they have an account in France. I didn't know Wise were that good for this sort of thing.

Exodi

wockawocka said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, they have an account in France. I didn't know Wise were that good for this sort of thing.

Transferring money internationally?

It's their bread and butter.