Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2023 9:37am
Hi Tom and welcome to the forum,
Unfortunately, bank fees in Spain, especially for Third Country Nationals, are high.
When transferring large sums from a non-EU bank, most of us use Wise, or another online banking facility with an EU IBAN (International Bank Account Number). Sabadell will charge you a minimum of €18 per non-EU transaction. As you say that you're moving to Spain, these charges will soon add up.
Sabadell's charges for transfer of large sums, such as property deposit and completion funds are - I'll keep it polite - legalised extortion, 0.4% is normal. If time is of the essence, and as the money is already in your Sabadell account, it sounds like you may have no choice but to pay it. However, one way to mitigate the fee is to suggest that you would consider buying Sabadell's home insurance and use that to negotiate down their transfer fee.
By the way, who suggested using the Arras (pre-purchase) contract? The selling agent? Not a problem if the sale goes through, but they're usually drafted in favour of the seller (and the agent!), so hopefully you had your independent lawyer review it before signing, to ensure your own position is protected. As I assume it's the deposit that you're paying at this stage, you could call the selling agent and explain the payment will be delayed until you can speak to the Bank on Monday.
Whichever way you proceed, I would highly recommend that you open a Wise multi-currency account, or similar, for moving non-EU currencies to Spain.
Kind regards,
Kim
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