Top tips for buying overseas

If you’re buying property in France then you will need to make an international money transfer to move your money from the UK to France. The traditional way of doing this is with a high street bank; however you could save thousands if you use a foreign exchange specialist such as Moneycorp, partners of French Entrée.

At Moneycorp we deliver bank-beating exchange rates, fee-free transfers and expert guidance on the foreign exchange market to make sure you can save money when transferring it to France. The exchange rates we offer are typically 3-4% more favourable than most high street banks. With the sum of money involved in a house purchase, this could mean a saving of thousands of pounds. For example, if you’re transferring £250,000 into euros that could be a £10,000 saving.

Though often, the biggest savings can be delivered through the foreign exchange market and the knowledge of our experts. Every customer of Moneycorp is assigned their own personal account manager to provide guidance on the currency markets.

A word from an expert:

Adam Jordan is a senior member of our private dealing team. Here he explains how the team at Moneycorp use our expertise to help customers save money when buying property in France:

“When buying overseas,” says Jordan, “people will spend a lot of time negotiating a purchase price in a foreign currency – euros for instance. Whilst this negotiation is taking place, the real cost in sterling is constantly fluctuating, so by the time the price is agreed, the actual cost could have significantly changed.

For instance, over the last 3 months, the GBP/EUR rate has fluctuated by as much as 5%. This means if you had spent time negotiating a one or two percent discount on a purchase two or three months ago, by the time completion comes round it could actually end up costing 5% more. Equally, if a purchase negotiation failed due to budgetary constraints, it may be possible to increase an offer if the exchange rate has moved favourably over a period of time.”

The sooner you get in touch the more help your account manager will be able to offer:

“If you speak to us before you even begin to search or negotiate a property purchase,” says Jordan, “we can help even more by working out the best and worst case budget and give guidance as to the volatility of the euro at the time. If a budget is being stretched during the negotiation process, we can also help to keep track of the cost and explain about any currency risks that may affect the future cost.

Once a purchase is agreed, we can then not only help manage the risk of the cost of the currency increasing, but also offer guidance in order to help clients purchase their currency at a favourable moment within their specific time frame, even if they are still in the process of raising their capital for the purchase.”

Moneycorp’s specialist expertise can not only save you money, but can make the whole transfer process much less hassle:

“We specialise in foreign exchange,” says Jordan, “we make hundreds of payments every day to all corners of the world, which means we have encountered more or less all issues and obstacles people commonly face when moving money overseas. We have amassed a wealth of experience in transferring funds overseas to specific countries, or even specific regions within countries (in particular France, where we have just opened a dedicated office in Nice).

This helps us offer local guidance in terms of working through the purchase or sale process within specific countries. For example, we often ensure funds are transferred to the correct party, i.e. direct to the buyer, direct to a solicitor or to a client’s personal account. We can even help organise foreign bank accounts and put them in touch with relevant third parties.”

Moneycorp also combines this highly personalised service with easy online access, so you can make your money transfers at your convenience, 24/7, at the click of a button. But, if you need any expert help, the phones are open with extended business hours so you can get in touch when it’s convenient for you.

Moneycorp is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and has over 35 years of experience of helping individuals and businesses with their international payments.

Call Moneycorp on +44 (0)20 3773 6355 for more information or to discuss your currency transfer requirements. Receive free transfers on all your payments.