Currency Exchange

Currency for your property purchase in Portugal

You won’t need us to tell you that buying a property in Portugal, whether for retirement or a holiday home, is an almost unbelievably exciting project.

But on the practical level, not everyone realises that changing your home currency into euros for a property and/or move abroad requires much more planning than for holiday cash.

Obtaining hundreds of thousands of euros for a property purchase can be daunting. Then, when you’ve bought, you may be surprised at how frequently and how much money you need to exchange for euros in the future. 

Changing money using your usual high street bank or an app, can be chaotic and expensive. Plan ahead, however, using a currency specialist, and it should be a smooth and simple process.

That’s why OliveHomes.com recommends Smart Currency Exchange.

Smart have been helping property buyers abroad for nearly 20 years.

They have a 4.9/5, “excellent” rating on the independent reviews website Trustpilot, so do please take 5 minutes to see what others have said about them. 

When you register for an account with Smart you will be assigned your own dedicated currency trader, who will be at the end of the telephone, not hiding behind a bank’s website or app.

How Smart will help you

To start with, you can talk to Smart about how much you will have to spend abroad and the kind of rate you’re likely to find. That way, when you come to look for a property in Portugal you will know how much you have to spend in euros.

Secondly, you can discuss with your trader where the exchange rate may be going by the time you come to complete on the property. Over the weeks of the legal processes exchange rates can change significantly, so you’ll need to decide if you want to take the risk, or lock in your exchange rate when you commit, for complete peace of mind.

Thirdly, when you make each payment – the deposit and then the balance on completion – Smart will give you all the support and information you want.

As well as the purchase, Smart can automate your bill paying, and fix your exchange for the year ahead so you’ll be able to budget accurately.

Smart are fully regulated by the FCA - the Financial Conduct Authority, under the payment services regulation for the provision of payment services

To access all this, you just need to register here.