Best Currency Tools for Overseas Property Buyers

Buying a property in France can be an exciting venture. Deciding the region where you would like your French house to be located is one of the first and more challenging decisions to be made with 22 regions to choose from.

Deciding how much you can afford to spend is also tricky. Whether you need a mortgage or you can afford to pay cash, you will need to establish your budget and to do so you will need to bear in mind all the costs involved in the purchase, being the most obvious the taxes and the Notarie fees.

However, not all the potential buyers identify at this stage a very important cost that could affect the final price for your property. In fact it could make or break their budget. It is not a surprise that foreign exchange is often called the hidden cost in overseas property transactions.

What can you do?

If you haven’t done so yet, you should get in touch with a foreign exchange specialist like moneycorp. The main advantage is to receive a more competitive exchange rate than the bank.

But another big advantage, is the ability to access a wide range of currency tools to help you decide the best way to buy or sell your currency. Here our partner moneycorp explains some of the main tools available to you:

• Spot contract- A spot contract is an agreement between you your FX provider to exchange money and buy foreign currency at the present exchange rate. This is the most common and traditional form of currency exchange and is suited to addressing any imminent currency transfer needs you may be.
• Market order- you could target a rate of exchange and if that rate is then hit, we could either buy the funds for you automatically, or notify you for your permission to buy. With the same principle we can set up a limit order to protect your transaction in case the rate falls below a certain level. This suits those who have some time on their hands and are optimistic that the rate might improve within their time frame. One of the advantages of the market order is to ensure that the currency is bought at the desired level even if the market only touches that level very briefly – and this includes when the markets are closed for trading.
• Forward contract- This allows you to fix a rate of exchange up to two years in the future in advance of a payment. This tool is very popular among property buyers as it allows them to fix the whole price of the property ahead of completion giving them the peace of mind and the certainty of how much they are going to pay for the property. But it is also a great way to take advantage of a positive rate movement. (Please not forward contracts may require a deposit)

Why moneycorp?

With a Platinum Trusted Service Award 2020 from independent review site Feefo and 40 years of experience in the industry, FrenchEntree has been recommending moneycorp for more than 15 years. During this time they have helped thousands of client planning the best way to pay for their property as well as supporting them afterwards with any further payment from paying bills, mortgages to repatriating UK pension payments for those who have retired to France.

Furthermore, we have worked with the same person at moneycorp for more than a decade! You might be familiar with her as she often writes for our FrenchEntree magazine. She has 13 years’ experience in foreign exchange, and is a qualified European lawyer with experience in European transactions. Mar will be happy to answer any questions or enquiries to support you through these difficult times

Opening an account is really easy and free of cost. You can register online or over the phone in a couple of minutes and for FrenchEntree there are no transfer fees in any payment.

Open a free account today by clicking here.

Contact moneycorp at 020 3773 6355 or send your enquires here.