When buying property in Greece, many people are given the price of the property on the day and immediately convert it from euros into sterling. They then pay their deposit and await the final payment.

But what they don’t take into account is that the exchange rate may well change in the time it takes to make this final payment – and often not in their favour.

So what is the solution? Well, that’s where a currency company comes in. There are distinct advantages to using a currency company; better rates than your high street bank, one-to-one service, proactive management of currency requirements... the list goes on.

How can they help you with your property purchase?

Well, what many buyers don’t understand is that the price of currency fluctuates second by second as it is traded on the currency market floor, nor do they realise that banks add on a 2-5% profit margin when selling the currency to the end-user – that’s YOU! Banks generally set their buying and selling rates for currency first thing in the morning – when you visit a branch, you’ll see them hanging on the wall. Currency specialists however don’t set the rates in advance at all but call into the market floor to obtain the best rate possible at the time of your actual transaction. This means that they purchase your currency at a far more competitive rate – not only for your deposit but for the entire cost of the property should you so desire.

To cover the entire cost of the property it is possible to secure your currency requirements in advance using what is known as a forward contract. The interesting thing here is that you will not be required to pay for your currency in full until such time as you need to pay the total amount over. You can agree an exchange rate for the full amount of euros that you need immediately and only pay a deposit of up to 10% of the total sterling purchase cost. This will ensure that your currency is secured at that day’s rate without you having to pay the full amount for the euros immediately.

It also means that you can keep 90% of your funds in a sterling account, hopefully earning interest, plus you will know EXACTLY how much money you will need when it comes to pay for the euros in the future. By doing it this way, there are no nasty surprises - like an extra £5-10,000 added to what you had expected to pay because of a change in the exchange rate!

The joy of an approach like this is that it removes all the uncertainty and the associated stress and strain. I’m sure you will agree it’s much better to know upfront exactly what your costs are going to be - it’s one less thing to worry about!