Spanish banks & property purchase

My experience with a Sabadell bank account showed me they are a bunch of thieves, (I cancelled my house insurance well over a month  in advance, they confirmed it was cancelled, then went ahead and took the next years premium anyway which they never refunded). So I transferred everything, including direct debits for water and electricity etc, over to my (Transfer)Wise account.

When I came to sell my house, I had no problem at all using my Wise account to sell and have the monies paid into. I really don't see why buying should be any difference, but I wouldn't be surprised if their are "arrangements" in place to create new accounts.

Hi Peter, thanks that's helpful. A Bankers Draft has been mentioned to complete the purchase. I wonder if this is a legal requirement? I paid the deposit by transfer from my Wise account, so I expected to pay the balance this way too

Hi Mary 

When we bought our house 3 years ago, we used Wise to transfer the money to our pre-existing Santander account - because our solicitor was insistent that we needed to arrange a bankers draft in order to complete the purchase (Wise can't do them btw). Needless to say Santander charged for the draft.

Others on this forum have suggested that it should be possible instead to transfer the money to the solicitors client account - from where (presumably) a bankers draft can be arranged. I've no doubt that you would still have to pay for the draft, but it would avoid the need to open an unnecessary (and expensive) account with a Spanish bank.

You can then pay your utility bills using your Wise account.

Cheers 

Steve 

Maybe contact Wise and ask them?

 https://wise.com/au/blog/making-an-international-wire-transfer

Hi Steve, that's useful, thanks. I thought a Bankers Draft might be necessary. The deposit was paid into the estate agent's bank ac so, you're right, the solicitor must have one too. I'll email them tomorrow and suggest that. :)

Thanks Peter. I'll be following that up tomorrow :)

Hi Mary , I'm in exactly the same position as yourself and have been advised that although the deposit was ok via electronic transfer the balance must be by bank draft/cheque, seems crazy in this day and age but there you go. I've banked with Caixa on the Cabo strip for a couple of years now and they have been brilliant ,both at the old branch up by Campoamor (now closed) and my new branch down past the pyramid roundabout next to Tony Ellis. They have waived any fee to raise the bank draft as I took up their buildings and contents insurance offer which seemed competitive enough - hope this helps somewhat.

Hi Tom, most reviews of Sabadell bank I've read have been bad so I'll have a look at caixa bank and see if they are better/cheaper. Thanks for your view, 

Mary

Hi Mary, we’re in the process of buying & paid the deposit into lawyers account but told due to money laundering rules the balance must be by bankers draft. We bank with Sabadell and if we take home insurance ( which wasn’t much more than a quote from another insurance company) they will wave slightly more than half the fee of 560 euros . Barclays in the UK used to charge £25 , so quite a difference between the two banks . Sabadell will also charge a fee of 0.35 % on receiving your funds from the UK unless you use a company like Transferwise  or other currency transfer company to move the funds.