As part of the purchase procedure, you will need to make a large currency transfer for your deposit or main payment quickly or sometime in the future. You may also want to make regular payments for your mortgage and living expenses. Many people use their own banks to do this for them but incur heavy charges and poor exchange rates in the process, costing them literally thousands of pounds extra! e.g. £2000 on a transfer of £100,000.

Fluctuations in the international money markets can work both for you and against you and nobody can accurately predict future exchange rates. When purchasing your Spanish property, you'll have to pay your deposit and stage payments in Euros, so, as your capital is in another currency (e.g.  £GBP), you may want to fix the exchange rate to fit your budget, to prevent unwanted surprises in the future when you need to make payments overseas. Using a specialist Foreign Exchange (FX) company to facilitate this is generally much easier and significantly cheaper than using your UK bank. You are literally buying your Euros from the FX company at an agreed exchange rate. They will hold the currency for you until you instruct them to release the funds to your chosen overseas account.

There are many companies who specialise in providing Foreign Exchange (FX) services and offer more attractive exchange rates and can generally respond quicker than the high street banks. Be sure that your chosen FX company guarantees NO RECEIVING CHARGES at your overseas bank or offers to refund any receiving charges! You can obtain your Euros (or other currencies) from an FX company at the current rate quoted and they'll keep that currency ready for you to release upon your instructions.

It costs nothing to set up an FX trading account with the company (or companies) you select but they will require proof of your identity first. A recent utility bill and a copy of your passport is generally all that's required. These can be sent by fax, email or post. You'll probably be assigned your own dealer as your personal contact. They will be able to guide you and are there to keep you up to date with the current state of the FX market.

When you decide the time is right or it becomes necessary to trade your pounds for euros, you’ll call the FX company and agree a rate with your “dealer” and make the deal over the phone. The FX company will then send you a “contract note” detailing the amount and rate that you've agreed. You then sign and return the agreement to them by email or fax. You will also receive a form to instruct your bank, detailing the amount of sterling to pay to the FX company from you account (which you should do quickly to avoid potential late payment charges) and their bank account details. Your bank then transfers this amount to your FX company to complete the purchase of your Euros.

When you are ready to move money to Spain, contact your dealer and let them know that you’ll be sending your instructions to pay the recipient in Spain. (e.g. your Spanish bank or the builders bank)  Fill out the transfer form with the payee’s bank details and IBAN number and send it to your dealer. They will then release the funds as you specified and that is the transfer completed.

In addition many of these FX companies guarantee that there will be no receiving charges made at the receiving end (e.g. your Spanish bank account) DON'T FORGET THAT IT IS IMPORTANT you check this with your FX company BEFORE dealing or setting up an account with them.

Most FX companies will set up regular transfers of your pension or salary etc.