When buying or selling a property overseas, one of the most important factors to consider is how to exchange your currency. It is as important as negotiating the price.

Purchasers of property abroad are always keen to negotiate a good price, but most fail to realise that they can also achieve significant savings by receiving the best currency exchange rates.

Whilst the natural inclination is to go to your local High Street bank to transfer funds abroad, this is usually a fairly expensive way of doing it. Exchange rates and commissions provided by high street banks are significantly less favorable than those offered by our specialist foreign exchange partner.

Our currency partner can help you achieve commercial exchange rates, have tools available to protect you from adverse exchange rate movements and will make the whole process simple and straightforward from start to finish.

We recommend the services of the Foremost Currency Group (FCG) with whom we have negotiated preferential exchange rates for our clients. Transactions arranged through FCG are always at the most competitive rates, and the service is fast, efficient and hassle free.

- Security of Funds – Authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under the Payment Services Directive; client funds are held in segregated Client Accounts.

- Guaranteed Commercial Rates of exchange for now and up to 2 years in the future.

- No fees and No Commissions on exchange of currency.

- Specialists in Foreign Currency Transactions, with calls answered personally in the UK.

- A Stress Free Personal Service.

- Full Compliance with H M Customs & Excise.

- Registered with UK Money Transmitters Association.

We have our own dedicated broker at FCG to assist you with your currency requirements. Get in touch with Alastair Archbold (aja@fcgworld.co.uk) to find out how much you can save.

FREEPHONE: 0800 781 0601Telephone: +44 (0)1442 892 060Fax: +44 (0)1442 891 748

In this currently difficult financial climate there always going to be opportunities to be had for the person who is in the right place at the right time. Here at ¡Estupendo! it is our companies philosophy to help our valued clients to find themselves in the right place at the right time. We are in the position to offer properties to buyers that are either a distressed sale or have been taken back by the bank. Firstly, we need to clarify what the difference is between a Distressed Sale and a Repossessed Property.

DISTRESSED SALES

A distressed sale is where a property owner is having difficulty meeting the agreed notarized monthly payments, and has fallen behind to the degree that the bank has stepped in and needs a solution to be found. At this point we at ¡Estupendo! work hand in hand with the property owner and the mortgage lender to resolve the financial pressures on the property owners, in order for this to happen we need to set a realistic sales price for the property, and activate a marketing plan, one that will clear the debt from the bank or mortgage lender, and leave the property owner free of any lengthy and often costly court processes. Most importantly, by taking responsibility for the situation the owners will not be black listed in the future, because as we all know times are tough and we all need to get back to basics sometimes in order to regroup and move forward. But, we are always aware of the sensitive nature of these situations, so sometimes we cannot directly market the property, so if you are interested in finding out more about these properties, please contact one of our ¡Estupendo! Offices.

REPOSSESSIONS

Once the bank, or mortgage lender, has gone through the legal registered court process, and is now the owner of the property, it is a different story. As we all know banks are banks, they are not real estate agents, but recently they have found themselves becoming owners of a lot more properties than they would like and in general they do not have the means or capacity to facilitate these transactions. This is where we come in… at ¡Estupendo! we have been working here in Lanzarote for many years and have established strong working relationships and partnerships with many of Spain's leading banks and mortgage lenders. We have regular contact with our partner banks regarding new properties.

We have prepared a working example of the process of purchasing a repossessed or bank owned property. It is much easier than you think. At the moment we have a couple of standard one bed apartments on a good complex in Puerto del Carmen, and they are for sale from the bank. The purchase price is €67,500 There is always a bit of negotiation allowed regarding the purchase price, depending on the bank.

We have prepared a mortgage analysis based upon the 1 bed apartment in Puerto del Carmen for the asking price of €67,500 and a deposit of 20%.

At this point, please keep in mind that it is different if you are a Spanish citizen. In this case we are going base this on an EU resident with a Spanish Residencia.

And this is all subject to the buyer supplying the correct paperwork required by the bank. All mortgage lenders and banks base approval for a mortgage on your proven ability to meet the monthly payments.

To explain this further, the banks generally deem it feasible that you can comfortably repay a monthly mortgage up to 25% of you net monthly salary or income, so if you earn net 1,000.00 per month the banks will approve you a mortgage repayment of up to 250.00 per month.

A lot of people looking to purchase a property, and need finance, start off looking for a property first, then applying for finance. Quite simply, this is often the wrong way to approach this, it often ends up with a lot of wasted time and disappointment. You need to see what your finances and situation allows you to buy first. We can assist you from the very beginning, we can help you to work out what range of properties we should be looking at, making the decision process a lot smoother, and very often quicker!

PURCHASE PRICE €67,500

DEPOSIT 20% €13,500

MORTGAGE REQUIRED €54,000

To keep things simple, we have based this mortgage at a fixed interest rate of 3.75% and have included different period options for the monthly payment options.

€54,000 @ 3.75% over 10 years €540.33

€54,000 @ 3.75% over 15 years €392.70

€54,000 @ 3.75% over 20 years €320.16

So now we have these figures, we can work out what you need to show as your official monthly earnings or salary. Based on securing finance on €54,000 @ 3.75% over 20 years €320.16 you would need to be earning net €1,290 per month.

As a general rule, you need to set aside approximately 10% of the purchase for the purchase fees, but when purchasing repossessed property, the bank does not charge you the set up costs for the mortgage, so you can make some savings there!

If you have any further queries or questions regarding this, please feel free to Contact Us. We are here to help you achieve your goal to purchase a property here on this great island, and as our slogan says, at ¡Estupendo! we are Just A Little Bit Different...................

If you would like us to send you updates on new properties that we have, let us know and we will add you to our email list.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The ¡Estupendo! Team

According to Charles Mackay writing for Halifax International, Lanzarote is faring better for overseas property than the Spanish mainland. Charles referred to a recent article in the Times who noted that official statistics for the island have only recorded a drop of 4% in values. Lanzarote has avoided some of the development problems as seen on the mainland of Spain due to our strict policy of low rise buildings and planning laws initiated by César Manrique.

According to Conti the UK’s overseas property mortgage specialist, British property investors are staying closer to home with their overseas property purchases. Rejecting long haul destinations in preference to the traditional favourites of Spain and France which totalled over 50% of their enquiries to date in 2009 as opposed to just under 30% for the same period in 2008.

With the last few apartments remaining to be sold on the Las Terracitas complex, the owner has decided to reduce the price to €65,000. Originally priced at €99,500, this is an incredible saving. Each apartment is sold refurbished and furnished, and the complex has great sea views and a swimming pool.

This link will take you to full details on our Estupendo Property Site. Or for more information contact ian@grupoestupendo.com quoting reference EST 534.

Ian was talking with the Director of Banca March here on the island the other day. He mentioned a great idea, which might appeal to people looking to buy here, but who are hesitating due to the poor exchange rate.

There are positive rumblings around the financial and property markets, read a quick summary of the UK & Spanish market and our view on the market.

UK Market

UCI are a Spanish specialist mortgage company, and we have recently started working with them. They have one product which is absolutely amazing for anyone who currently owns a property on the island and would like to move, or buy another!