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Q:
I will shortly be selling my house and moving to Germany. I would like some advice on how to get the best exchange rate on the money from the sale of my house into euros and transferring the money to a bank account in Germany, or if you could give me an idea where I could get the information I need.
J Emerson, Hartlepool
A:
Jonathan Davis replies:
I always recommend that my clients go to specialist currency brokers for this
type of transfer. If you ‘Google’ the words “currency transfer” (keeping the double quotation marks), you will find a host of firms offering low-cost services.
For this type of transaction, I would think it appropriate to telephone three or four to gauge the savings compared to high street banks, to whom we would normally think of for these transfers. You might also consider a firm we know to be competent in this area, Caxton fx – more details at www.caxtonfx.com.
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Downsizing option
25 July 2008 [0 comments]Q:
We have lived in our very large house in a very small village for nearly 25 years, where we have built a life and are very happy. The house now has a very high value in financial terms.
However, we are now looking at the prospect of having to make a downsize move, mostly because of the financial implications of owning a house of this size, such as higher heating bills, council tax, insurance and other essential expenditure.
We have looked into the area of equity release schemes but have constantly been told that it is more cost effective to downsize to a smaller property. However, even if we did downsize to such a property, it would still be of a high value in this area.
Additionally, it would be very expensive to make this move, considering the potential costs involved in moving home. We have calculated that it will cost us close to £100,000 to move, taking into account estate agent fees, legal fees, stamp duty and various moving costs. This £100,000 is immediately wasted and, on a personal note, we would have to start a new life in our retirement.
These factors therefore bring us back to equity release. We would require an additional income of up to £20,000 per annum for possibly a ten-year period before we need to move. If the calculation was for a property valued at £1.5 million, we would only need an increase in the property value of around two per cent a year to cover the withdrawal of £20,000 for income and the interest payments. Would this be the preferable solution in investment terms for our situation, rather than taking the money out of the property by downsizing, especially in view of the current outlook for house prices, and then investing the funds elsewhere and paying more tax on the funds we have released?
G Boot, Kent
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