Whether purchasing an investment, holiday or retirement home overseas, it is likely that you will make the purchase using Australian dollars. Currency fluctuations would therefore provide the opportunity to make gains but could also equally lead to losses. If you are transferring foreign currency for a property purchase overseas you need to be aware that currencies can sometimes fluctuate by as much as 10% over relatively short periods of time.

Currency transfers will require specialist advice and will usually involve a certain degree of speculation. Currency conversion has become competitive in today’s market with a wide range of foreign currency specialists available. Your overall currency conversion costs will often depend on the fees and rate of the exchange.

Some of the services offered by Foreign exchange (FX) firms include:

• Access to very competitive exchange rates
• The ability to fix an exchange rate for up to two year, protecting you form adverse currency movements or enabling you to lock into a favorable exchange rate, Even if you don’t have all of your funds available at the time of fixing the rate
• Currency markets are monitored on your behalf and you can talk to an expert at any time throughout your transaction for guidance
• Most are open long hours and Saturdays
• Lower transfer fees and faster transfer times
• No commission charges on currency transactions