Made An Offer on a Property in Los Altos - Page 3

Hi Nigella8. Definitely an exciting time! 

As Kim says, check your lawyer sets up all your utilities for you. If you don’t already have a bank account (or even if you do!), have a look at Wise (formerly TransferWise). A Euro account with them can be set up quickly and easily on the internet and you don’t get stung with extortionate bank charges for account management fees and international money transfers. You can pay your deposit to your lawyer from there, and ultimately your final balance. Only thing to watch with large balances, is that if you hold more than €15k for more than 2 days, they will charge you - so be prepared to allow time to transfer a large sum into Wise from your Uk account (usually next ‘working day’, so avoid weekends), then straight out from Wise to your lawyer’s client account. 

We’ve found them very straightforward, quick and transparent. You get instant notification receipts for all transactions. I haven’t heard any negative feedback about them anywhere.  Good luck with your exciting adventure!

Thanks Jill

Hi Jill

Can I have this account to pay my utility bills as well from it?

Make sure that the agent recommends a local lawyer that is independent like Sun Lawyers.

Hi Nick - I am using Sun Lawyers.

They want me to put Euros 3500 to Secure the property.

Regards

Hi All,

Sun Lawyers said they can open an Account with Blanca Sabadell for me as low commission and cost.

Is this ok any suggestions?

cheers

I had to put down that amount as well so must be a standard thing in Spain. They told me that if the vendor doesn't complete on the said date then you get your deposit money back!?

I would check what Low Commission and Charges actually means! And whether there are any other charges or fees .... they’re likely to only tell you what you ask for- and if you don’t ask the right questions, they may not offer the information!  We were with Sabadell and have been horrified at people’s experiences. You need €700 a month going in, or a balance of €70k to avoid bank charges.. and they charge for international transfers in - even if the company transferring the money advertise that they don’t charge! I’m sure there are loads of threads on Costa Blanca Forum to tell you what to look out for with the various banks. They are not governed in the same way as they are in the uk, so just be careful and don’t jump into anything because you trust your estate agent or even your lawyer ... call me a cynic, but they all have something to gain from their recommendations, and some are less scrupulous than others.

We’ve recently opened a Wise account, and are in the process of moving our direct debits. 

Good luck!

Yes. You can all your direct debits paid from it.

Set it up as a Euro Account. You will get an IBAN number, which is like the sort code and account number all in one. You give this to your Solicitor and they’ll set everything up for you on completion. 

By transferring the funds electronically to their solicitor. There isn’t a daily limit, like there is with the normal banks, and the fee is cents.