Best bank for expats? - Page 3

does anyone know if you can use Wise to effect completion of purchase at the Notario's office?   Notario normally wants a copy of a draft for which spanish banks charge very high fees..can a Wise euro account get round this problem? 

I've never tried to do that, so don't know if the Notary will accept any card.

I would check with your solicitor.

You would deposit the money from Wise to your Lawyers account and they would attend the notary with a bankers draft from their bank. They have special safe accounts for the purpose.     

Thanks for the responses...it appears to get better...according to wise they will transfer the euros to the Notario's account using an IBAN number and this will satisfy the requirements and assist in avoiding gi-normous bank fees...I am attempting to arrange this now 

Are you not using a Lawyer? It's not as clear cut as just paying the Notary a number of transactions take place, including tax, 

Exactly, some Spanish private sellers will tell you that its nothing to buy a property, just arrange a meet at the Notary and pay! In principle that is so, but only one small facet of the process. I was buying a house with parking and had a lawyer on the case. I found by accident an additional parking and store available from another seller who said just that, we can do the sale this week. Nooooo, it still went through my lawyer to check all the provenance, unpaid taxes, building license, status of electric account etc etc. Also as I am in a small community of 10 houses, getting copies of the last 2-3 years AGM minutes, to identify any exposure there as well can easily be missed.  

Wise is not a bank and not covered by the same banking standards or protections. It is a money services provider. That said .. for money transfers, and paying via card and some direct debits it’s excellent. There are though some companies and institutions that will not accept it for direct debit payments.

Of course I'm using a lawyer ... and having a survey done ...I mentioned the banking process because conversion to euros and euros transfer for purchase can add a considerable amount to the purchase process and most banks charge extraordinary amounts to produce the draft for completion...are you suggesting that using a lawyer bypasses these costs ?

How Wise keeps your money safe

We’re licensed to hold your money and, as part of keeping it safe, we follow strict rules set out by the regulators in the countries where we operate. 

As of 30 September 2022, our customers are trusting us with the equivalent of 9.2 billion GBP in their Wise accounts.

If you keep money with us, our regulatory obligation is to hold all of it in cash and secure liquid assets. 

"I mentioned the banking process because conversion to euros and euros transfer for purchase can add a considerable amount"

That's why people use firms like Wise, high street banks charges are high. A good law firm will have a trust account? a "special" bank account, usually a checking account or its equivalent, for client money the lawyer holds. You transfer the money there and they settle all the payments to the seller, taxes, the notary fee, plus on the day the payment to the real estate agent, if purchased via one. (normally about 5% in Spain), they show up at the notary to pick up their fat check! The lawyer do checks and also make sure the seller produces the utility bills, plus check the equivalent of UK rates paid Town Hall, in Spain they have a charge over the property,, if any bills not paid they pass to the buyer because attached to the property not the person.  

If an older property you should always ask the selling agent or seller for the 'ITE' and the CEE (energy certificate) as the law requires them to be available when the property is being marketed. https://surveyspain.com/2020/06/18/technical-inspection-requirements-structural-stability-spain/