Re: Exchange rate
 

Lol...

Has dbd two login accounts? One has to wonder.

Re: Exchange rate
 

Oh I just get SO annoyed at times with him...The way he throws his socks on the floor before he gets into bed, never puts the cap back on the toothpaste tube...OH!!

Yes I agree with you, it's just my iPOD battery still hasn't arrived, I had to take it out on someone.

Re: Exchange rate
 

:rofl: and there was me thinking it was your PMT week;)

Re: Exchange rate
 

Sorry for the minor thread hi-jack, but this is a related question at least.

We are in Canada and decided not to sell our place in the UK, the intention is it will be rented. Unfortunately we have been here nearly three months and the place is still empty :frown: so I now have to start sending money across to the UK to pay the mortgage each month. I have just sent the first payment which cost me CAD 4030.00 to buy GBP 2000.00. This included a CAD 20.00 charge for a wire transfer, I used CustomHouse.

My question is, is there a cheaper way to transfer this sort of amount on a monthly basis? Obviously with the exchange rate the way it is we certainly don't want to sell the place in the UK and if it does rent then we won't have to. However we do have to keep sending these relatively small amounts every month regardless of exchange rate and so losing nearly 1% on every transaction is annoying.

Re: Exchange rate
 

You obviously have a lot more confidence in the UK property market thn many other people do. Even conservative estimates predict a decline in property values of around 15% over the next two years. That, coupled with the fact that you havent been able to find tenants and the house is now costing you money would surely be enough incentive to sell your place in the UK.

Of course I agree with you about the exchange rate but selling your house in the UK doesnt mean you have to convert the equity you release into Canadian dollars right away. I would sell (if you can), put the money you make into a high rate savings account in the UK and earn interest on it instead of it costing you money instead. Then exchange when you feel the time is right (but be warned that several posters on here think the rate could go lower still over the short term)

Re: Exchange rate
 

I do expect the house prices to drop in the UK, but our house is a large period property (about 450 years old) in a village location. It is therefore quite rare and desirable, so does tend to be a little more stable in its price than 'typical' homes.

However the main two reasons we want to hang on to it are first we might change our minds about Canada and want to come back to the UK! Second, if it does rent then it would be an excellent long term investment. House prices may well fall over the next 2 years, but I am prepared to bet that over the next ten years they will still out perform any risk-free investments either in the UK or in Canada.

Re: Exchange rate
 

Kick your agents.

If your house is in/near Oxfordshire, I can recommend a firm that I would trust to do a good job.

Re: Exchange rate
 

We are on with 3 agents at the moment, house is between Milton Keynes and Northampton at the top of Buckinghamshire. Please do let me have your recommendation if they have offices that cover that area.

In case anyone is interested, or knows someone who is, then details with the three agents are here: JacksonStops, MichaelGraham and MarcusJordan

Re: Exchange rate
 

Actually I think you would find that larger and more expensive homes are typically the ones to suffer the greatest loss during a downturn in the market. After all people still have to have somewhere to live (so the lower end tends to be fairly stable) whereas they dont want to poor money into an expensive house that they think may loose value further. And higher interest rates make it that much harde for people to streatch to the house they really want so they tend to scale back. Large/expensive homes become the ones that are hard to sell.

Also, at a rental income of GBP1,500 per month you would be getting s terrible return so I'm not sure I agree with the statement about it being "an excellent long-term investement". I don't know how much you house would sell for. Lets assume GBP500k for argument sake. The GBP18,000 per year rental income you would get (probably nearer to GBP15,000 after you factor in the letting agents fees, insurance, council tax etc) would only get you a return of about 3% per annum. That doesnt sound like a great investment to me. Arent some UK banks and building societies overring 7% savings accounts now? And that would certainly be risk free - you wouldn't suffer a loss on the principal.

But hey, its your money.

Re: Exchange rate
 

1.9742 @ noon today.

Oops.

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It can stay there for the next week or so. It'll make the bitter cheaper. I'd like it back to 2.25 by month-end though (pleeeeeeeeeeeeze).

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1 $C = 1.3747 Euros today. I'm going to Germany in 2 weeks. Extra Pils for me too.

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European lagers I can get here. Bitter is what I'm looking forward to most (sorry Mum).

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Sent you a PM

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1.95 offered around 5pm today... agent called me with fears of it going lower...in turmoil.............:confused::blink::(