Photo courtesy of Cloudzilla

With the ever increasing expenses linked with owning a property in Turkey many owners are seeking to rent their Villa during the weeks of the year that they themselves are not visiting.  This presents the need for owners to have a wide choice of advertising their villa, choice which represents value for money in terms of the cost of advertising vs holiday makers that will be visiting the site searching for villas to rent in Turkey.

Continue reading ‘Turkey Villa Owners – More choice for advertising your villas with introduction of new site’

The buying of a home overseas will almost inevitably require you to pay for the property in local currency – often in several stages.  If you’re based in the UK,  this will require you to initiate a currency exchange transaction from Pounds Sterling into the foreign currency.  It’s important to choose the right time to convert your funds to the new currency because if you don’t pick the ideal exchange rate, your property could cost you more than you expected.

Continue reading ‘Foreign Currency Exchange London’

In this, the fourth overseas property podcast, Mark O’Sullivan Head of Trading for Currencies Direct talks about the impact of currency exchange when buying off plan property abroad. Mark offers advice on market rates, buying foreign currency for the future, currency trends and tips on what to think about when choosing your FX Company. He also answers some more listener questions and gives his opinion on future property hotspots. Continue reading ‘Foreign Currency Exchange Podcast with Mark O Sullivan’

“Don’t let furniture be an afterthought in the overseas property buying process”

Many property owners underestimate the cost of furniture packages in Spain and need to find companies or individuals that can furnish their homes on a budget without losing the quality look. Some home owners drive their own furniture over to Spain, but I’m not sure that this is cost or time effective if you don’t have contacts in the transport business. Furnishing your home in Spain can be a stressful time especially if you expect to get it all done in one weekend. It is difficult to view furniture over the web or in brochures as it is an emotional process and you may change your mind when seeing the furniture in a showroom. Having someone on the ground in the area where you have bought is a good idea. Before you come over to look and purchase your Spanish furniture you can give them an idea of what you are looking for in terms of style and furnishings. They can then point you in the right direction, minimising the stress of walking around lots of shops and furniture stores and avoiding paying too high a price for key items such as sofas and white goods etc. Continue reading ‘Furniture Packages Spain not an afterthought’

Are you looking to visit the Cape Verde Islands on a property inspection trip this summer?

1 week Property inspections trips in July and August 2006 for 379 pounds sterling. Trips are available Tuesday to Tuesday and are limited and only available this week, so contact us soon.

For more information please email us here…

After sales in the overseas property industry is usually an after thought for many companies. Many clients have expressed that companies promise them an excellent after sales service, but it is usually a lady on reception fobbing them off with lame excuses.

Over the last few years I have seen new companies springing up everywhere, who specialise in aspects of the so called “after sales service”.

Today I want to cover Furniture Packs abroad.

When completion of your off plan property is imminent, it is time to start thinking about how you are going to furnish your new home. Whether it is for yourself or for rental, choosing the right furniture is essential.

As “overseas property‿ encompasses many countries I have reviewed a number of furniture package sites below, if you know of any others or have had a good experience with a particular company let us know.

Continue reading ‘Furniture Packages for Overseas Property’

So you have bought your Off Plan Property and started on the road to ownership.

As many are aware the “buying an Off Plan Property” model allows most buyers the flexibility of paying in instalments. So lets use an example below:

Mr Investment buys an apartment on the Costa de la Luz in Spain on the 1st January 2004.

The price is 100.000€ (what a bargain) and the property will be complete on 1st January 2006.

This example does not include 7% IVA tax and other associated costs. The developer’s terms are as follows:

3000€ reservation deposit
10% 30 days after signing the contract minus reservation deposit
10% payment date 1st July 2004
10% payment date 1st January 2005
10% payment date 1st July 2005
60% on completion

So the investment would have cost in pounds sterling:

The 3000€ will cost £2109.6 @ rate 0.7032
The 7000€ will cost £4922.4 @ rate 0.7032
In July 2004: £ 6652@ rate 0.6652
In Jan 2005: £ 7065@ rate 0.7065
In July 2005: £ 6824@ rate 0.6629
Final Payment: £ 40944 @ rate 0.6824

Inter-bank rates taken from Daily FX are approximates and you would not receive these when using a foreign currency exchange company.

So the total investment would have cost: £ 69517 The reality is that if you buy your currency through a foreign currency exchange company you will pay 2-4% over the inter-bank rate and that is where they make there money.

I have been introduced to a company whose claim’s had me interested.
1) Guaranteed to be the best rates available.
2) Exchange your currency at the inter-bank rate
3) Cut out the middle man
4) Savings that go straight to you
So with these claims I tried the service out and these are my findings. I paid £200 to become a member and that was it. (I made this back on the transaction)

Excellent web interface and easy to use.
See the rate change in real time and the rates are very close to inter-bank rate.
Customer Support is good but could be excellent.
Once I had picked my rate I made a BACS payment and received the payment in full (charge and commission free).

Overall I was very impressed, if you don’t want to pay the £200 then you can still trade and still get a better rate than foreign currency providers.

They even have a service where by you can buy currency for travel at 0% commission. I felt very comfortable working with them, but I can give you all the information and you can check it out for yourself.

So if you are interested in either buying currency for holiday home payments or just travelling abroad go to my contact page here and ask me for more information!