# £350,000



## Keithtoon (May 7, 2015)

Hi all,
Typing from a very wet UK!
Imagine I had £350,000 in a UK Bank I move to Spain to purchase a property what is the best way to pay for the new home in Spain?
I am aware I will have to have a Bank account in Spain. 
But in your experience how would you transfer the monies in a secure way and of course cost effective way?
Regards
Keith.:eyebrows:


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Use currency transfer specialists like Currency Direct and Transferwise.


----------



## timwip (Feb 27, 2017)

I used Transferwise for the purchase of my flat.


----------



## Miss Jones11 (Jul 13, 2020)

Keithtoon said:


> Hi all,
> Typing from a very wet UK!
> Imagine I had £350,000 in a UK Bank I move to Spain to purchase a property what is the best way to pay for the new home in Spain?
> I am aware I will have to have a Bank account in Spain.
> ...


Your choice but maybe read this first. Transfer specialists companies have no compensation scheme, bank to banks do. £350,000 is a big amount of money to take any risk with, a few grand a month spending money maybe worth a risk for a better rate.

https://news.sky.com/story/police-i...ay-home-cash-in-10m-company-collapse-11492763


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Miss Jones11 said:


> Your choice but maybe read this first. Transfer specialists companies have no compensation scheme, bank to banks do. £350,000 is a big amount of money to take any risk with, a few grand a month spending money maybe worth a risk for a better rate.
> 
> https://news.sky.com/story/police-i...ay-home-cash-in-10m-company-collapse-11492763


TransferWise keeps customer funds in separate accounts (Barclays and Morgan Chase) so if the company goes broke, you don't lose your money. I imagine CurrencyFair is the same.

https://transferwise.com/help/11/ge...oney-covered-by-a-financial-protection-scheme


----------



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Keithtoon said:


> Hi all,
> Typing from a very wet UK!
> Imagine I had £350,000 in a UK Bank I move to Spain to purchase a property what is the best way to pay for the new home in Spain?
> I am aware I will have to have a Bank account in Spain.
> ...


When I transferred the funds to buy my house in Spain I did it through Barclays Bank who had a Spanish division at that time (2008). They offered a totally free transfer at the full market rate for the day on condition that I opened an account at a Spanish branch of Barclays (so it was therefore a Barclays to Barclays transfer). Of course, Barclays are no longer operating in Spain but I wonder if Santander offer a similar deal? I now use Transferwise to move funds from the UK to Spain and it is an excellent service at very little cost. The funds are in my Spanish bank within minutes of logging on to my Transferwise account and entering the necessary details. The most I have ever transferred at one time is 2,000 pounds and I am not sure that I would feel relaxed about transferring 350,000 by this route (certainly not in one transaction!). I keep hearing that clients are protected in the very unlikely event that Transferwise goes bust after receiving your money but I am a very cautious person and I am not sure I would take the risk.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

One way to minimise the risk if you are using a company like Transferwise or Currency Fair if you are nervous about sending it all at once (I've been using Currency Fair myself for several years with no problems at all) is to split the transfer into a number of smaller chunks. 

I think Spanish banks are allowed to make a charge for receiving payments over €50k so check with whichever bank you open an account with about whether they will do this.

Although if it were me I would think long and hard about putting the whole €350k into buying a Spanish property, especially in the current economic circumstances with property values heading sharply downwards. The more you spend, the more it will cost you in transfer tax and legal costs, and the more it will cost if and when you come to sell, in estate agents' commission, plus valia, etc. You'd have no chance of recouping those costs if you needed to sell in the forseeable future.


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Yes speading he transfer into several smaller amounts also spreads the risk of exchange rate fluctuations


----------



## Love Karma (Oct 10, 2018)

Lynn R said:


> Although if it were me I would think long and hard about putting the whole €350k into buying a Spanish property, especially in the current economic circumstances *with property values heading sharply downwards*. The more you spend, the more it will cost you in transfer tax and legal costs, and the more it will cost if and when you come to sell, in estate agents' commission, plus valia, etc. You'd have no chance of recouping those costs if you needed to sell in the forseeable future.


I would agree with you regarding prices declining but that is mainly in the 100k and under market which is cheapo apartments in the more run down areas of a town where you can I agree pick up an apt that was 90k a year or so back for 55k. Properties 300k + and especially on the coast are holding up very well and in sought after areas are increasing (especially on coast). I only last month sold my second property for 4.5% above asking price. 
So "values heading *sharply* downwards"....not in general.

https://www.idealista.com/en/news/p...-spanish-coast-is-0-4-cheaper-than-a-year-ago


----------



## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> TransferWise keeps customer funds in separate accounts (Barclays and Morgan Chase) so if the company goes broke, you don't lose your money. I imagine CurrencyFair is the same.
> 
> https://transferwise.com/help/11/ge...oney-covered-by-a-financial-protection-scheme


Not always worked though with some rogue companies. Very volatile situation right now and trading is down. A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.


----------



## Mark s (Jun 6, 2019)

We used a place in the sun currency to transfer our 50k deposit. Each transaction we’ve done since has gone very smoothly and they are covered by the FCA.
They only charge £5 per transaction with no limits on the amount although they did advise us to send at most 25k per transaction.
They also lock in exchange rates for up to 30 days so when we sent the deposit to them we got €1.15 to the £ and when we asked them to deposit into the Spanish account the exchange rate had gone down to €1.12 to the £ so it saved us a lot of money by locking it in.
Hope this helps.


----------



## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

Be aware spanish banks often (I have found they always do) charge a percentage fee on credits, transfers etc with no maximum amount. 

My son negotiated with a bank when he opened an account that a maximum fee of 0.30 € would be charged. 

And in passing: Never assume anything operates in spain as it does in any other country. Always ask ‘ what if.’


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Juan C said:


> Be aware spanish banks often (I have found they always do) charge a percentage fee on credits, transfers etc with no maximum amount.
> 
> My son negotiated with a bank when he opened an account that a maximum fee of 0.30 € would be charged.
> 
> And in passing: Never assume anything operates in spain as it does in any other country. Always ask ‘ what if.’


My bank charges nothing for transfers in from our money exchange company, never has


----------



## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

When posting I thought I would avoid being told some banks don’t.

“Be aware spanish banks often (I have found they always do) charge “

Over the past 3O plus years have had accounts with at least 6 different banks, and had experience with several others, all made the charge. But it say ‘often’ to imply some will probability be different.

PS. Sol Bank charged me £800, that was 0.5% on the whole amount, to transfer a sterling investment account, having refused to negotiate a lower charge.


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Juan C said:


> When posting I thought I would avoid being told some banks don’t.
> 
> “Be aware spanish banks often (I have found they always do) charge “


Apologies, if you don’t want another opinion please make it clear in your post. 
You always find they do.
I was offering the alternative. 
I always found the opposite , but hey ho


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Megsmum said:


> My bank charges nothing for transfers in from our money exchange company, never has


I receive Transferwise payments at no charge.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

xabiaxica said:


> I receive Transferwise payments at no charge.


I always received transfers into my old Banco Popular account via xe.com and Currency Fair without any charges, and now the same with Banco Sabadell via Currency Fair.

But I do think, as I said earlier, that the banks are allowed to charge for receiving amounts over €50k (something to do with SEPA) so best to check in advance.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Juan C said:


> When posting I thought I would avoid being told some banks don’t.
> 
> “Be aware spanish banks often (I have found they always do) charge “
> 
> ...


If you are transferring sterling to a Spanish bank you would expect to pay a fee, but with TransferWise etc they are transferring euros so there's generally no charge.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I think we should bear in mind, though, that the OP may well have a non resident bank account when he transfers these funds, and that's a whole different ball game when it comes to charges.


----------



## Miss Jones11 (Jul 13, 2020)

If a Brit is buying from a Brit can the money transfer be done from UK bank to UK bank?


----------



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Miss Jones11 said:


> If a Brit is buying from a Brit can the money transfer be done from UK bank to UK bank?


Yes. An English neighbour did this a couple of years ago when she sold her house to a fellow Brit for an agreed sum in pounds sterling.


----------



## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Miss Jones11 said:


> If a Brit is buying from a Brit can the money transfer be done from UK bank to UK bank?


As far as I know, in this area no. Any house sales completed the money has to come into a spanish account in euros, that’s how it works here with house sales I have been involved in.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Megsmum said:


> As far as I know, in this area no. Any house sales completed the money has to come into a spanish account in euros, that’s how it works here with house sales I have been involved in.


That's my understanding too, presumably so they can ensure the appropriate tax is paid.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Apparently it can, but with a separate payment being made in Euros to cover the transfer tax (and no doubt the notary fees and lawyer/gestor's fees as well).

https://www.judicaregroup.com/site/blog/spain-blog/buying-property-in-spain-in-sterling


----------



## Keithtoon (May 7, 2015)

Big thank you all!
So Transferwise looks best.
I would transfer the monies over in small amounts ie £25,000 there no rush.
Will rent for long as it takes to find our home. Hopefully late next year early 2022 the move is planned for. Yes I will become resident therefore will have a Spanish bank acc.
Thank you all for your time!
2022 I will be a Pensioner:clap2:
Regards
Keith n Macy


----------

