Jun 24, 2024 / SKI PROPERTY MARKET

When is the best time to engage a currency specialist in your ski property purchase?

Home in the mountains

Don’t let fluctuating currency markets get in the way of a stress-free ski home purchase. Currency specialists, Smart Currency Exchange, can mitigate currency risk. Find out when to reach out to them and the services they offer. 

Dining room in a ski home in Chamonix, France

To ensure that your ski property purchase is as smooth as an easy glide down the slopes, it’s best to assemble a team of professionals.

The most obvious members of this team are an English-speaking estate agent, to help find the property for you, and a property lawyer, to ensure that the purchase is legally sound. But hiring a currency specialist, like Smart Currency Exchange, is also key to a stress-free buying journey.

Dependent on your needs, you may want an independent financial advisor and a mortgage broker too. 

Today, we’re going to unpack how a currency specialist can assist you and when is the best time to contact them. 

How exchange rates can impact your property purchase 

One of the key differences between buying in your home country and buying abroad is that the price of your property will be impacted by fluctuations in the currency market.

Throughout the year, currency markets can move up to 10%. They are highly unpredictable and are influenced by socio-economic events, such as interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and elections.

In the time that it takes for you to see a property online, visit it in person, put a deposit down and complete, exchange rates can move against you. For example, you could have your eyes on €1,000,000 chalet in Italy. Then, due to some event completely out of your control, the GBP-Euro rate moves from €1.15 to €1.10, your ski chalet now costs you an extra £39,000.

Yes, it could have gone the other way and saved you tens of thousands, but you won’t know until the moment you complete. 

How a currency specialist can mitigate currency risk when you buy 

Exterior of a ski property in Chamonix, France

For many, currency risk just is not gamble that they are willing to take. So, Smart Currency Exchange can organise a forward contract, enabling you to lock in an exchange rate for up to twenty-four months.

Given that 2024 will see elections in the UK, US, France and European Parliament, volatility in currency markets is to be expected but forecasting beyond that is practically impossible. 

When in your buying journey should you contact a currency specialist?

It is advisable to contact a currency specialist as early as possible. You can make an initial account with Smart Currency Exchange at no cost, with no commitment. Smart Currency Exchange have specialised in helping people buy overseas for twenty years. They understand how even the smallest change in rates can have a big impact on the cost of your home. 

While you may not want to organise a forward contract straight away, it will still be useful to talk to your account manager. This way, they will be able to understand your appetite for risk, your budget and property plans. Then, they can suggest which services will suit you best. 

A crucial step in your buying journey is flying out to the mountains to view properties. Before you go, it is a good idea to create a currency plan with your account manager. So that if you see the property of your dreams, you are in a position to put down the reservation fee and sign the necessary contracts.

You do not want to find the home of your dreams, and then have to delay proceeding with buying because you have yet to work out your finances.

You can then call your account manager – from the slopes, even – and kickstart your currency plan.

When should you organise a forward contract? 

Terrace of a ski home in Leysin, Vaud, Switzerland

Typically, property buyers organise a forward contract after their offer is accepted.

This will mean that the price of your property stays the same from the day of offer accepted until the completion date, regardless of currency market fluctuations.

It can take three to nine months from offer accepted to the keys in your hand. When you buy a new-build property, this process can take up to two years.

Many choose to marry up the day their forward contract ends with their completion date.

Smart Currency Exchange keep an eagle eye out for fluctuations exchange rates. It may be that a rate particularly suits your needs, and so, you lock it in before you have made an offer on a property.