Estate Agents. – Obviously whoever you choose make sure they have a good reputation in the area and don’t be afraid of asking for a reference from an independent source. Agree the fee before anything is signed off and get a good idea of how the flow of funds is going to work and what additional fees will be charged, not just ‘might’ be charged.

Estate Agents will have a raft of different service suppliers to assist you during the selling process but it will be always to their benefit. From solicitors to currency companies your agent will recommend you to use various companies as they, the agent, will more often than not be paid a commission from each one for the introduction. By all means take them on board but always compare with others and make your own decisions. Don’t be over sold on to using one or another.

A Solicitor, Agent or Notaire should be able to transfer the proceeds of your house sale to any account of your choice upon completion. However, be aware that since the UK left the EU the fees charged for processing these payments can vary significantly and it is always advisable to check these first. It might be wise to speak to your bank or ask one of the above three to confirm if their own bank has a policy of charging extra for payments outside the EU. This can apply on both the sending and receiving end, and as it is often calculated as a percentage of the sum being transferred the costs can be enormous for a house sale – sized amount.

At the end of the day it all goes towards getting your euros, or any other currency, to an account which you can then exchange at the best rate possible. This is where we come in to help you. As mentioned earlier, the agent will introduce you to a currency exchange company, they will encourage you to use them as they will, on average, receive 50% of the revenue made on exchanging your money, thus the company really will charge you as much as it can get away with to make up the difference.

DO NOT register with any currency company until you are 100% happy with the fees and service they are going to offer you, i.e. the margin, otherwise you could end up being charged as much for exchanging your money as the agent fees. Compare companies, make an effort to ‘ring around’ it will save you in the long term. The majority of currency companies will not give you any information, help or guidance until you have registered, if this the case ignore them, go somewhere else, if you can get a water tight independent recommendation from someone you know then all the better, but still always negotiate on the margin charged.

Currency companies that talk about ‘indicative rates’ are not to be trusted; this is a tactic for them not to commit to a specific rate and force you to register before they will actually quote you an accurate exchange rate that they will stick to. One more pit fall might be the very attractive exchange rates you will be quoted to encourage you to register in the first place. Please please don’t be fooled by these rates and register, as those employees you speak to at the beginning are often there solely to bring you on board by quoting very competitive rates, and get paid to do so. If you do register we can guarantee that those rates can be very different from those genuinely available when you eventually get to speak to a Dealer at the company.

Margins are how much currency companies make from exchanging your funds and are declared normally in % terms. It is very difficult to say what is a good deal due to the fact that deal sizes change and currency dealers are incentivised by their companies to make as money as they can, so be on your guard.

All companies work in very different ways, just be sure that the one you choose can be trusted to give you a good deal.

We would be delighted to discuss with anyone, who is going through the process of either buying or selling a property abroad, any of the points we have highlighted in this article.