Foreign Exchange Services for Businesses
Corporate financial controllers, relieve yourself of some of the financial burden today.
If you are the financial controller in your business, you may be interested to know that many corporate clients are using a relatively small foreign exchange company and are retaining more of their profits today, than their competitors.
How?
They are using the services of a specialist currency conversion business to buy, or sell, their currency in a pre-planned manner. By doing this, the currency service provider is managing to shave off large amounts of profit that their usual fx supplier makes.
Because the currency exchange company only converts currency for physical delivery, they trade considerable volume every day. Because they trade large currency volume, they can buy at a discounted rate from their treasury provider, in this case, HSBC.
Bottom line? …. Buy your currency through a FX dealer who buys in bulk and use their discount to get a much better rate than at your own bank.
Most businesses don’t have the time to consider how much of a difference it would make to their bottom-line if they used a foreign exchange dealer, other than their bank. One phone call, or email, could save thousands on each transaction.
- Easy Online registration
- Dedicated corporate dealers
- Client segregated accounts
- Competitive transfer fees, in some cases, no charge.
- Inbound & outbound payments
- No contractual obligations
More information on FAQ’s for corporate foreign exchange transfers here.
Save your company money and make life easier.
Currency Rates
Currency Exchange and Currency transfers for your Property Purchase Abroad.
The Foreign Currency Exchange market is the world’s largest financial market, in excess of 1.5 trillion US dollars are being exchanged daily.
The process of Foreign currency exchange transfers couldn’t be easier. and as most services – money transfer is a free service with our Foreign Exchange partner.
However, be aware that some companies make charges for transfering money abroad.
Here is a simple 3 step guide:
Step 1. Open an account
Complete an application form and ensure you have usually two forms of ID: (1) photographic (2) proof of residence.
Step 2. Buy your currency
Speak to a currency dealer and they will give you the current market rate. If you are happy with the quotation they will buy the currency on your behalf. This trade is usually confirmed in writing by way of a deal receipt and usually provides instructions on how, when, and where to make payment for your currency.
Step 3. Get your currency
Once cleared funds are received by your dealer, they will promptly transfer your exchanged currency to any bank account of your choice, worldwide, the same day.
Other than just choosing any particular day to exchange your money, you could choose other dates to make the currency exchange. It may be that you have decided to buy a new property that won’t need the final balance to be paid until 18 month’s time. In this case, it may suit you to do a ’spot deal’ today for the deposit and arrange for a ‘forward deal’ for the final balance. By doing this, you will have just ‘fixed’ the purchase price to your home currency and will have ensured that you don’t get caught out by a weakening home currency, or a strengthening one in the country of your purchase. This can save people thousands.
Here are 4 basic types of transaction:
• Spot Contract
A spot contract is undertaken when you buy currency at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the transaction and make payment within two working days. This transaction is typically used for deposit payments on property or for full payment if the funds to pay for the transaction are available.
• Forward Currency Contracts
A forward contract is undertaken when you fix the exchange rate now for a specific date from one to 24 months in the future. As an example, your final payment for a home abroad may be the equivalent of £100,000. You could fix that exchange rate today with a small deposit, and pay for the bulk of that transaction at the completion of the forward contract. To guarantee the exchange rate, private clients will have to pay for at least 10% of the value straight away (a margin deposit) and the balance on or before the maturity of the contract.
• Time-Option Forward Contracts
You may also reserve a time-option forward contract. This contract allows greater flexibility in paying. For example, a property developer may give you a date of December 2008 as an approximate completion date but may tell you it could take a bit longer. Your dealer may recommend that you set a date for your forward contract of February 2009 and you are free to settle that contract anytime before the maturity date with no penalty.
• Limit Order
Limit Orders allow a client to set the rate at that which they would like to exchange their currency. Our foreign Exchange partner will monitor the market for you and if the rate can be achieved, we will purchase the currency on your behalf. We would then notify you of the due date for your payment. This is particularly important for contracts of substantial value where a small currency fluctuation may have huge implications.
Getting Started
If you would like further information please call our Private Client Desk on 01480 458400. You may also register online with us. We will contact you to activate your account. In order to complete the registration process, we require two forms of identification. Please also provide us with a copy of your passport or driving licence and a utility bill, council tax bill or landline telephone bill with your address.
The value of your foreign currency can be fixed for a given period ahead. If you don’t wish to transfer your money now, you can book the rate of exchange now, for a date ahead.
To discuss how best to make a currency exchange into euros at the best rate, talk to a foreign currency exchange specialist. visit fx-foreignexchange,
Rush to Place Deposits in Irish Banks
The recent announcement by the Irish Government that they will make a public guarantee to all customers of all six Irish banks with their headquarters in Ireland, has rocked other countries.
It now appears that the inducement of a safe haven of an Irish bank offering a guarantee backed by the Irish government has started a stampede of investment transfers. This is not surprising when the financial world is currently a very uncertain environment and other governments offer much lower thresholds as guarantee levels for investors, should a bank foreclose.
With the British government now talking of raising it’s public guarantee to £50,000, the unlimited guarantee looks very attractive to high net worth individuals. Foreign exchange specialists have been exceedingly busy in the last few days, exchanging pounds sterling for euros and transferring the funds to Ireland.
The 6 Irish banks benefitting from this are: Allied Irish bank, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish bank, Irish Nationwide Building society, the Educational Building Society (EBS), Irish Life & permanent combined with the Permanent TSB.
The value of the euro against the pound can be fixed for a given period ahead. If you don’t wish to transfer your deposit money now, you can book the rate of exchange now, for a date ahead.
To discuss how best to make a currency exchange into euros at the best rate, talk to a foreign currency exchange specialist. visit fx-foreignexchange, or call 01480 458400.
Currency Conversion – Trust Your Dealer
In these difficult times, you need all the help you can get just to keep hold of your hard earned money.
- You may be in business and have a need to regularly pay suppliers abroad.
- You may be an expatriate and have a need for a regular monthly payment to be transferred overseas.
- You may have decided to emigrate and have a need to move nearly all of your savings.
- You may have just decided to buy that, longed for, holiday home abroad and have a need to transfer your savings as a deposit.
Whatever your reason for moving money abroad and having to exchange the currency to another type, you need to choose your currency dealer wisely. This is mainly because there are usually seemingly small charges applied to the currency exchange deal AND some foreign exchange brokers will not give you the best rate available.
Yesterday, I even heard of 2 different banks who offered a client a rate of exchange that sounded competitive and confirmed that there would not be any charges by them for the transfer or at the receiving bank. In both cases, this was completely untrue! The clients dutifully told their managers to make the transfers. When they received their exchanged money, charges had been applied at both the sending and receiving banks in addition to a completely different rate of exchange being applied!
When each client visited their banks for an explanation, it was like the bank managers were reading from the same script. Both offered the lame excuse that they merely processed the exchange of currency. After that, the rate of exchange was applied by the dealing room whenever they got around to doing the deal. No explanation was offered to explain the charges.
If these people had used a professional currency exchange dealer, they would have had a contract with the rate of exchange on it and a full explanation of charges applied if there were any. They would have known exactly how much they would receive.
Why use a bank when you are protected by this form of contract? If you regularly make payments abroad, or need to make a one-off currency exchange try fx-foreignexchange.com. You will be dealing with professionals.
Pay Your Property Deposit by Card
How to beat the currency exchange system with credit card payments on property purchases.
Pay your overseas property deposit with a credit, or debit, card and get a better rate of exchange than you would by using the card abroad.
If you find yourself in the fortunate position of being able to buy that property abroad, and you need to place a deposit on the property to secure the one you want, then there is an answer.
Pay your initial deposit with your debit, or credit, card.
However, before you get too excited, consider this. I was in Spain recently and used my UK Bank debit card to draw some Euros at the “Hole in the wall”. I drew money on two consecutive days. The exchange rate between the pound and the euro had barely altered, but one bank gave me 1.19 euros to the pound. The other bank gave a rate of 1.23 euros to the pound. If, like me, you suffer from terrible thirst when it’s hot and you need £200 to pay for the drinks, the difference is €8. “Just €8!” I hear you say.
Well change that figure of £200 to £3000 as a house deposit and the difference between one bank’s foreign exchange rate and the other’s is now €120. Not a huge amount, but still worth saving.
FX-Foreignexchange have a facility, through their currency exchange partners, where you can now pay your initial deposit to secure a property abroad by using your debit or credit card. You get an even better rate than the banks can offer. It’s a safe way to pay and painless.
Just call FX-Foreignexchange on 0044 (0)1480 458400, (or email for them to contact you from here) , register your details with them, give them the details of where you want your deposit to go, and they take the payment in your local currency, change it, and send it to the account you’ve asked for it to be sent to.
Paying your overseas property deposit couldn’t be easier. You may even want to spend the money you save on a special dinner to celebrate how clever you are!
A couple of little things, FX-Foreignexchange can’t take card payments over £10,000, and they can’t take less than £2500. On the basis that most initial deposits for new homes abroad are €3,000, or £2,500, this shouldn’t present a problem.
The other area to consider is if you use the same company to change your further stage payments, the difference when using my example, is €1,200 when you change £30,000.
That’s a bit more interesting than the €8 I saved!
The Aed, Currency of Dubai
The UAE dirham and international money transfers
About the AED:
AED, or dhs, is fixed to the US Dollar. As a result, the recent decline in the value of the US Dollar against the Euro and the GB Pound has had an obvious effect on the AED rate when trading currency in Europe.The UAE dirham (AED) is divided into 100 fils. Coins are in 5, 10, 25 and 50 fils and AED1. Notes are in denominations of AED5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000. $1 = 3.6722AED and currently £1 = 7.2504AED.
Currency exchange between Dubai and London:
With the opening of the Gatehouse Bank Plc in Central London, a fully compliant shariah bank, there is likely to be an influx of interest in exchanging AED´s for Pounds.
There are no restrictions on the import and export of money into, and out of, Dubai.
Everyone holding a residence visa in Dubai is allowed to open a bank account and to import and export funds, although it’s unusual for people to bring funds into the country with the current excepion of foreign funds being used to buy property in Dubai. Accounts held overseas are of no interest to the fiscal administrations in any of the states. No declarations of currency are required when entering any of the territories, so travellers can move currencies in and out without restriction and in any form that they choose.
International bank transfers are something the Dubai currency exchange brokers handle comfortably. The money transfers out of Dubai have long been a lucrative business, particularly since the property boom began in recent years. The large number of expats who have moved to Dubai regularly exchange their money, and make transfers abroad to their home country.
currency conversion by professionals
How to transfer aed and get the best exchange rates:
All the retail banks will transfer money to any destination and in any currency. Many people find it convenient to use their own bank to transfer money overseas, but there are plenty of currency dealers offering this service, so shop around to obtain the best currency deal. The main factors involved in transferring funds overseas are the exchange rate offered and any commission charges plus the money transfer charge. The rate quoted by a high street bank may look attractive, but if the combined charges are high, you might be better off with a company like fx-foreignexchange. In addition, many overseas receiving banks will make a recipient charge. Using fx-foreignexchange, there will not be any receiving charges in most cases.
Different transfer systems are available, and the speed of transfer is the main determinant of the charge levied. The methods are postal, bank-to-bank, telex, telegraphic and SWIFT (or similar titles). For an explanation of currency terms, visit this page.
If you intend to send significant amounts of money abroad for business transactions, such as buying a property, or making a payroll payment on a monthly basis, ensure that you’re given the commercial rate of exchange. The tourist rate or standard rate that you see quoted in your newspaper or posted on the bank’s currency exchange board can be considerably bettered for large exchanges and transfers.
Fx-foreignexchange have a currency trading office in Dubai.
Get a quote for the best aed, eor, gbp currency exchange rate today, just call +44 (0) 1480 458 400
or simpy fill in the form and a fx-foreignexchange dealer will contact you:
cforms contact form by delicious:days
Getting the Best Exchange Rate today
Getting the best currency exchange rate available today.
The steady decline of the Pound against the Euro has fuelled much debate over whether the currency exchange rate avaliable today, at about 1.26 Euros to the 1 Pound, is aiding the slow quantity of property bought overseas.
There are even several new initiatives to seemingly offering the best euro / pound exchange rate. Some developers are even offering to fix the exchange rate to 1.4 Euros to 1 Pound, so that a buyer of their overseas properties is perceptively not losing out on the exchange rate. The truth of it is that the price that you pay for the property is probably higher than you might pay if you just accepted the ‘Real’ exchange rate and negotiated a little harder on the price of the property.
Consider this: You are looking to buy a property at €200,000. Generally, you could raise a local mortgage of 70% of this, leaving a need to transfer 30% of the purchase price (€60,000) plus 10% to cover all costs (€20,000).
You will have to change enough Pounds to pay a total of €80,000 at some point.
- If you simply exchange Pounds for €80,000 at todays best currency exchange rate, (1.26), you will need £63,492 Pounds.
- If you take someone up on the offer of an exchange rate at €1.4 Euros to 1 Pound, you will need to change £57,143 Pounds.
- Clearly the better exchange rate will appear to make a saving of £6,349.
The question is… Did you get the best deal on the asking price of the property? Maybe, you could have negotiated more than £6,400 off the price?
currency conversion by professionals
In principle, there’s nothing wrong with these great exchange rate offers, but ask a few more questions of the builder. The builder may prefer to simply reduce the price. Try using an estate agent that is used to working on an International basis, like Gatehouse International, as they will be able to offer both types of exchange rate deals. You can then choose the deal that suits you most.
For the best currency exchange deals, get a free account with Global Currency Exchange Network and let us let you know when the best rates are available.
Ways to Make a Money Transfer
5 ways to make a money transfer.The world is getting smaller financially, and with more business deals between the West and the East, the cost of making a money transfer is becoming more important to all, including small start-up importers, large established concerns, and even travellers who need more spending money transferred to a local account.
The problem is the cost of the money transfer. On small amounts, the charge made by a high street bank, to make a money transfer, can almost wipe out the amount being sent. This is especially true when you add on the charge made by the receiving bank.
To put it bluntly, if you are making a regular money transfer abroad, you need to seek out less expensive ways to do it. Commonly, a British Bank will charge over 30 GB Pounds just to initiate the transfer, then they take a large slice of your cash with an expensive foreign exchange rate. Then… the bank at the receiving end makes a charge as well!
currency conversion by professionals
Global Currency Exchange Network, a specialist foreign exchange brokerage, can limit these expenses greatly by not charging for the money transfer, giving a more competitive exchange rate, and in some cases, arranging with the bank overseas to waive their recipient charges.
There are various different ways to make a money transfer, here are a few:
SWIFT
This is the most common method of money transfer. Your local bank is likely to charge you anything from 12-35 GBP. Add on the foreign exchange commission and the possible charge at the destination bank. This normally takes working days but you can request an urgent SWIFT transfer, for an extra cost. It reduces the time for the money transfer to between 3 and 5 working days.
Euro CHAPS.
This is a method used to make the money transfer to select European Countries for around 25 GBP, plus the foreign exchange commission. This normally takes between 2 and 3 working days. Charges can also include the (by now familiar) receiving charges as well.
TIPANET
Unless you ask for this, most banks won´t offer it. Tipanet is a system where, for a small charge (around 10 GBP), plus the foreign exchange commission, you can make a money transfer to 6 countries. There are limits to the amounts you can send though and it usually takes 5 working days. The receiving bank may charge you for receiving funds.
Online Payment Services
By now you´ve probably heard of most of these.. PayPal MoneyBookers etc. These are now well established online banks and they offer various online payment options. Moneybookers, claim that you just need the email address of the recipient in order to make a no-commission transfer, which will cost no more than 0.50. However these sytems are mostly used to make very small payments as most people prefer to deal with a business that is accountable when transferring larger sums of money.
Paypal and Neteller are better known services. If you open an account with them, you can send money within minutes to other account holders. You may pay no fees for the transfer, but you pay a fee on the foreign exchange rate. Paypal, for example, charges 2.5%. Also, the recipient often has to pay a fee as well. the exchange rates can be uncompetitive at times.
Foreign currency brokerage specialists
These businesses are perfect for anything from making regular overseas pension transfers, right through to transfers in the millions. They offer a highly peronal service and a good broker can become an integral part of any business which regularly imports or exports. Some brokerage specialists, such as Global Currency Exchange Network offer a commission free service.
They also make the transfers for free. And, in some cases, they can pre-arrange for the receiving bank to waive their recipient fee. While this is useful for larger amounts being transferred, the regular money transfers for transactions like pensions and mortgage payments, can be almost wiped out by the charges that banks made.
Couple this with the speed of the transfer, usually 2 working days from receipt of cleared funds, it´s difficult to understand why someone would use their local bank.
To read more about making money transfers …
Read more on Foreign Exchange Terms …
Protect your profits when trading overseas
Protect your profits when trading abroad…Every company trading internationally is at risk from currency exposure.
currency conversion by professionals
It doesn’t matter how large your organisation is, unexpected fluctuations in the exchange rate can eliminate your profit. Even worse, a major movement in the exchange rate can potentially make a profitable deal turn into a loss-making deal.
There are ways to mitigate your exposure to currency fluctuation. Global Currency Exchange Network are professional currency brokers and have a business advisor on hand to aid you in protecting your calculated profit margin.
Our main function is International foreign exchange and payments. We provide innovative currency risk management services and international payment solutions to businesses of all sizes.
- Currency risk management services are designed to protect your profits against adverse exchange rate fluctuations while conserving gains from positive market movements; we can help to mitigate the risk, by providing a currency exchange plan that suits your business cash flow and works well with your agreed payment plan with your provider.
- Personal service. We have a business manager, experienced in International trading, who can help with anticipating your needs and keeping you up-to-date on relevant market events.
- A more competitive exchange rate than your bank may be able to offer.
- Flexibility; you can invoice your customers in their local currency, adding value to the services you provide and reducing the risk of a breaking a deal because of the exchange rate fluctuation.
- An easily set-up service, saving you time. One call will have you trading abroad, with increased risk management.
- Fast, efficient worldwide transfers and 24-hour trading, free of the limitations imposed by the banking network.
- Direct savings; you will not pay any receiving bank charges, saving your business up to 0.3% of amounts traded.
Request a call back and we’ll have a business manager contact you to discuss your needs
Buying Foreign Exchange
Is now a good time to buy foreign exchange?
For month’s now, the foreign exchange market has been a little nervous. With the right, professional, advice from a currency exchange expert, you can weather the storm.
As the whole Global foreign currency market is interlinked, an economic downturn in the United States can, and does, have an effect on the currency exchange rates between the US and wherever it does trade. As this is virtually every Country, the current economic downturn in the States has had detrimental effects on the Global economy. Equally, if the major lending bank in Europe hints that it will lower interest rates, as it just has hinted, then the Euro could weaken against the Pound.
While Global Currency Exchange Network don’t have a crystal ball, they can help to guide you through the maze and help to reduce the potential losses you make otherwise.
Is now a good time to buy?
Well, it depends on when you want the money available in another currency, and how much you can spare at the moment that the best foreign exchange rates are available.
Global Currency Exchange Network have a team of experienced currency dealers on hand to guide you through the process. In order to do this professionally, they will need some information. Particularly, the date when you need the foreign currency as they may be able to advise holding off buying the currency today. Sometimes, it’s better to buy currency at today’s price, but keep that price for a date at some time in the future.
This is particularly useful if you’re buying a property overseas and it won’t be built for another year, when you will have to make a large final payment. If you waited until the completion day to change your money, the foreign exchange rates may have gone against you, and in effect, the price will have risen by as much as
£10,000 when you make a comparison to the exchange rates from the previous year.
This system is just as useful to businesses. When a company decides to buy goods from abroad, they agree to pay in the currency that is local to the supplier. The rates on that day may give the business a potential gross profit on those goods of a fixed amount. If the exchange rates change in a negative way, between the date of ordering and when the business has to pay for them, the potential gross profit could be wiped out.
Most businesses hedge their bets by ordering the goods and fixing the exchange rate by asking Global Currency Exchange Network to ‘forward buy’ the foreign exchange for them at a fixed price. That way, they have peace of mind and relax, safe in the knowledge that the one thing that can’t change now is the exchange rate.
currency conversion by professionals
Global Currency Exchange Network are a commercial currency brokerage, based in the UK. We care for other people’s money and save clients vast amounts of money daily by offering competitive exchange rates, with no commission attached. In some cases, transfers abroad are free.
For a fast, safe, service go to our site and first open a free account. We will then contact you to discuss how we can help. Alternatively, call +44 (0) 1480 406080.
More articles on Foreign currency terms explained, currency exchange for businesses
Explaining types of Currency Exchange deals
Case studies of types of currency exchange transactions.
Before we show the examples, you may wonder why you would want to buy your currency in different ways. Every person, and each business, has different needs, Our function is to best match those needs to the best type of transaction that gives our clients the best value from the currency exchange.
Some people just want to buy the foreign exchange NOW. That one is easy, just call us, we’ll quote you a great FX rate and you do the deal straight away. However, some people ( or businesses) would prefer to fix rates for some time ahead. Well, Global Currency Exchange Network can do that as well. It gives the client peace of mind, that the rate is fixed and they can’t lose on a difference of exchange rates between now and the time set for the future deal.
There are various types of foreign exchange transaction. To help you through the maze a little, here are some examples of various different types of deals our currency exchange dealers can do for you.
Spot Contract: Mr Craven has just bought a property in Spain for EUR 145,950. His high street bank offered him an exchange rate of 1.245 Euros to £1GBP. We were able to offer Mr Craven a better exchange rate at 1.253. Mr Craven saved a vast £1167.60 just by using Global Currency Exchange Network.
Regular Monthly Payments: Mr and Mrs Williams have retired to their villa in Lanzarote, but they need to pay a small mortgage payment of 500 Euro’s per month and they have a regular monthly pension paid to them in the Uk, but they need it in Lanzarote. The total of the two amounts is £767 GBP.
The High street bank offered to make the regular money transfer, but advised them that some payments could take up to 10 days. And, as it was a relatively small amount, they would charge for the transfer payment together. Couple this with the additional charge that the local bank would make for just receiving the money, regular monthly payments were not looking like a sensible way to make transfers.
Global Currency Exchange Network don’t charge for the transfers, we have arrangements with most banks abroad so that the receiving charges are waived and, in this case we were able to offer a much better exchange rate. During the course of a year, Mr and Mrs Williams were able to save over £900.
Limit order: John has already bought his dream villa in Barbados. He loves it so much, he lives there most of the time! In order to sustain his lifestyle, he wants to exchange some Euro’s into US Dollars. However, the current rate of $1.585 to EUR 1 isn’t good enough. John isn’t in a rush to transfer the money, so he has asked Global Currency Exchange Network to put in a limit order to buy $25,000 when the exchange rate hits $1.61. John can now relax by his pool, secure in the knowledge that he will get the best deal and ‘Global’ will secure it for him as soon as the desired rate is achieved.
Forward contract: Jacqui has decided to have a new villa built in France. The total amount of money that she needs to transfer from the uk is €456,000 for the day of the villa completion. However, completion isn’t due for another 12 months and Jacqui is concerned that the exchange rates between the GBPound and the Euro will not change in her favour over the next 12 months.
In order to protect herself from fluctuations in the exchange rate, Jacqui has us to place a Forward Contract for her. This involved Global Currency Exchange Network buying her Euros for her at the price on that day, as a forward contract, at 1.278 EUR to 1 GBP. The price subsequently dropped to 1.234 EUR when she would have needed to exchange the money on the completion day.
Jacqui saved €18,240 ! Enough to buy a new car when she got to her new villa.
Stop Loss Order: Simon regularly imports goods from America for his Ebay business at about $25,000 each time. The exchange rate at the time of placing his last order was $1.935 to £1 GBP. This equated to £12,920. However, Simon was convinced that the dollar would weaken. He wanted to limit the cost of his goods to £13,000 and still have the flexibility of possibly buying his Dollars at a much better rate.
Simon instructed Global Currency Exchange Network to put in a Stop Loss Order to buy €25,000 at the exchange rate of $1.923 / £1 GBP to fix the worst price he will pay to £13,000. If Simon is right and the rate changes to $1.96 / £1 GBP, he will have saved a great deal of anxiety by fixing the worst price to him, but also gained around $925 on the exchange rate.
currency conversion by professionals
Global Currency Exchange Network are a commercial currency brokerage, based in the UK. We care for other people’s money and save clients vast amounts of money daily by offering competitive exchange rates, with no commission attached. In some cases, transfers abroad are free.
For a fast, safe, service go to our site and first open a free account. We will then contact you to discuss how we can help. Alternatively, call +44 (0) 1480 458400.
More articles on Foreign currency terms explained, currency exchange for businesses
Tax breaks for UK Landlords
Tax Breaks for UK Landlords.
Landlords could be eligible for a maximum tax break of £1,500 per property against the cost of installing draught proofing, loft insulation, or insulation for hot water systems. The Government are keen to encourage all home owners, including landlords, to improve the energy rating of their properties.
Most landlords are unaware that they can make this tax deductable improvement to their rented property. Furthermore, it will improve the property’s energy rating when they have to conform to the new EPC ( Energy Performance Certificate ) scheme that comes into force in October 2008. By improving the energy performance rating, the landlord is simply improving their chances of letting sooner, and for more rent. Savvy tenants will want to see the energy rating of the property to rent, before they agree to let. With the cost of energy rising seemingly weekly, this will become a major decision maker.
This tax break is called LESA, Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance. Talk to your financial advisor for more information, or if you are local to our offices in Godmanchester, or Bedford, call in. Contact us
More articles on letting property and EPC’s……
Get your own Currency Converter
Want your own currency converter so that your visitors can make their own currency conversion?The GLOBAL CURRENCY EXCHANGE NETWORK currency converter provides real time currency-to-currency conversion in the form of a popup tool that can be easily added and integrated into any existing website.
This will allow visitors to your site to make a currency conversion. It is possible to have it automatically convert prices shown on Read more
Mortgages & Financial advice in Portugal
When buying a property in Portugal, it is worth contacting a Portuguese bank with regards to the mortgages available as they can often offer superior rates or conditions than your local bank.
We recommend that you contact an independent mortgage advisor prior to buying a property in Portugal. They can find the best deal for you. There are many companies that provide this service but, as with all matters in life, the quality of service and advice can vary wildly.
Gatehouse International have been selling property in Portugal for over 15 years and we have an excellent local company that provides comprehensive advice on gaining mortgages & financial advice for those wanting to buy a property in Portugal. Read more
Currency Conversion
Currency conversion is often considered a ‘black art’ when really it’s very simple.
Most individuals consider using currency conversion when they are about to buy a property abroad, or maybe import a car, or looking to buy a different currency for their holidays.The most common way to perform a currency conversion is to use your own bank to make the conversion.
Think again! Most high street banks make a charge to transfer the money.
With our currency conversion service, the tranfer of the money is usually free!
Where the greatest difference occurs is when you Read more
How to buy Euros
currency conversion by professionals
How to buy Euros. If you live outside the ‘Euro zone’ and you need to buy Euros, there are various options available to you:
- Use your local Bank. You can walk in, buy euros at the published rate, and walk out. Or, for larger sums, you could request a transfer to be made after the bank has exchanged your currency to euros. Either way, this is likely to be an expensive option. Local banks tend to make large profits on the published rate of exchange, and, they charge to transfer the money for you!
- You could buy your euros from one of those kiosks you see at the airport. These are great if you have a relatively small amount of cash, but the exchange rate generally offered will give you less euros for your currency unit.
- The answer is to use a specialist currency exchange broker. They exchange so much currency, as it’s all they do. As a consequence, they buy money at a cheap rate and only make a very small margin on top.
If you are looking to buy euros, for anything such as buying a house, boat, car, then start by getting a quote from a currency dealer. It’s quick and you are likely to get many more euros on the currency exchange.
For advice on this 0044 (0)1480 458400
Saving money on Currency Exchange
Save Money On Currency Exchange.Gatehouse International has partnered with a well known Foreign Exchange dealership in order that our customers can have the benefit of the Best possible rates at any time, with the least inconvenience.
We aim to provide the very best exchange rates, therefore saving you money. Our Foreign Exchange partners will designate you your own currency dealer who will guide you through the whole transaction and explain Read more
2008 – The Year UK Property Prices Plunged
At the start of 2008 UK prices started to fall, partly due to long term price increases that had become unsustainable, and partly due to the credit crunch. For many home owners this is the worst possible scenario, their mortgage costs are increasing (due to credit shortages) and house prices are falling. In short they are trapped, unable to ride a market downturn due to high mortgage costs, their only option is to sell.
But, selling in a falling market with shortage of mortgage funds for buyers is not easy. For some home owners this means they will end up defaulting on their mortgages and then get repossessed. And of course the repossessed properties will go on the market at a discount price, having the effect of pulling prices down further. For some people there is a way out of this dilemma, they can find a company that will get them a private investor who can achieve a quick house sale, often within a few weeks. In some cases these private investors will even allow the homeowner to sell then rent back their house.
So, what needs to happen to stop house prices plunging? In short it is market confidence, and a key factor to that will be the cost and availability of mortgages for both home owners and prospective buyers. As 2008 rolls out that facts will become clear, but hold tight for a very bumpy ride.
Sell your own property
Use an estate agent, or sell your own property (FSBO)
With costs rising all around, we are looking to save money. The cost of selling your property can be significant. It’s not only the estate agent’s fees that are significant. The Government have introduced the Home Information Pack ( HIP’s) which most homeowners will now have to buy, before they can even place the property on the market. The conventional property lawyer’s fees are also significant and savings can be made here by using an online conveyancing service.
Online Conveyancing comes of age
On-line conveyancing
Save yourself a great deal of money. The traditional ways of having your house sale legally processed have long gone. With the advent of on-line shopping, banking, blogs, forums etc, we are all now used to secure server log-ins and generally feel more in control when we are able to track progress on-line.
House sale conveyancing has come of age. You can now order your free quote for selling, or buying, on-line. You can even order your Home Information Pack (HIP´s) and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) on-line.
Gatehouse Estates are able to provide quotataions for HIP´s, EPC´s and Conveyancing packages. Once you have decided to go ahead with a Conveyancing deal, you will be allocated your own log-in username and Password. From this point forward, you will be able to remove a great deal of the frustration that people have had to endure in the past, namely waiting for an update about the next stage in the process of buying, or selling, your home.
Want to know more? Call 01480 434290 or email zoe@gatehouseestates.co.uk
