New to site, financial query

[Herecomesbod]

Hmm… Where to start… Hi?! . We’ve recently found our ideal renovation project that we intend to use as holiday home for the next three/for years being stuck to school holidays, lengthening the time spent thereafter and possibly living full time after that…
Anyway… Reason for query… We are spending the grand sum of thirty thousand pounds. I have quarter in my account, my OH has quarter in his… The remaining half is being gifted to us by my parents… So… How do I best go about collating it all together and into a French account in readiness of the acte de vente? Thankyou xx

[Aquitaine]

1. Open a French bank account.
2. Look online at the various FX companies that make moving and exchanging currencies straightforward and affordable.

I will be the first to point out that buying a renovation property is not the end of needing a reasonable supply of cash.

[Mark]

Get the money into one UK account and transfer (as D M says using someone like transferwise) the exact euro amount direct to your notaire.

[ChrisK]

Ditto to Mark and David. It’s also worth noting that if you choose an FX company and then find that on the day you wish to transfer the money another FX company is offering a better rate, you should ask yours if they’ll match it. It worked for us.

[anon88169868]

You’ll need a French bank account anyway. We use Britline

[james]

If you get in touch with TORFX, mention Survive France and our account manager will advise you on the best approach, hope all goes well.

The smart way to transfer currency

[image] Get a quote now Over the course of my many years of living in France, despite considering myself to be quite frugal and always on the lookout for a good deal, my laziness has cost me a small fortune. I am not exaggerating. Let me explain. I live and work in France and I generate income from my business activities in the UK too. As such I frequently make currency transfers between the two countries. Previously, most of those transactions would be made via my own bank in the UK or France. I stopped doing that a long time ago and here’s why. If I were to transfer a small sum today, for example, perhaps to cover living expenses and I need to make a Sterling to Euro transfer, previously I would have called my bank in the UK, established the rate for the Euro and made the transfer. The problem with that approach is that the rate offered by your bank will very likely be significantly less than that offered by a broker. So I don’t do it like that any longer - the reason is simple,…

James

[La_Nga_Tai]

me too i used TOrFx since i’ve arrived in France in May this year 2017. I have an account in Australia that my benefit goes into and i transfer about $4000AUD to my french account : I lose 1500AUD each time. So I started looking around and realised TorFx is one of those that although it doesn’t charge fees - FANTASTIC!! (I save the $35 fee each month my bank would have charged me) their exchange rate was really low : never getting above .63-64 so in fact i was paying for this and it was TWICE the fee my bank would charge bcos their rate was better : i looked at another company and they charge a sliding fee based on amount sent but their rate is much better .66 so I’m actually 60 euro better off going this way…they are Transferwise BUT i still lose over a thousand dollars…is there any better way?

[RayR]

Hi,
we use HiFX and may use Smart Currency Solutions.

Good luck