Euro VS Sterling

 Sorry Papa, If you have not agreed a price I don't understand how you have a sale? Normally you pay 3000 Euros when you agree matters and I thought you generally have 30 days to complete. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong. If I was you I would keep the property up for sale until the 3000 euros is paid. Good luck. Kevin

Sounds about right KEV and if the buyer drops out i,snt a penalty payable I have forgotten its been that long since we bought in SPAIN

Rod

Let's try and clear this up, as there are a few misconceptions flying around on this thread.

It is normal to draw up a private contract agreeing the sale price and a completion date. This is the point at which a deposit is paid by the buyer, usually 10% of the agreed price, but this can be varied by agreement. The completion date does not have to be within 30 days - it is up to the parties concernedf. It is important to remember that this is a PRIVATE contract, and has nothing to do with the notary or the final escritura or deed. But it is binding, so no gazumping or price changes can occur in Spain - one of the advantages over the English system.

If the buyer defaults he loses the deposit. If the seller defaults he must pay the buyer double, ie give the deposit back plus the same amount again.

When we bought the last time, we paid a deposit in sterling (the vendors were British and heading back to the UK) and agreed a completion date over 4 months ahead, which suited us both. We also paid the balance in sterling, which may be an option for you, papa.

Pablo,

Thanks for confirming what I had just said, albeit in a more drawn out form..

Sorry, johnzx, your post wasn't that clear, particularly about the financial penalty for the seller who pulls out, so I thought it was worth me posting in the way I did, just to be absolutely precise. But I was really clarifying things in the light of the incorrect information posted by others previously.

Just trying to help ...

Thank you    ALL YOUR responses have been helpful and food for thought  Happy Christmas and New Year

PS  Hope I have'nt offended ANYONE by wishing the above

The euro/pound may be good......but not so good if you pay your taxes in Spain.....the rate of exchange  for tax is taken on the 31st of December, so all year it has been low but now!!!!!!! 

watch this space over the Christmas period when the traders close down.... it is probable one of the "olive countries" will collapse and then we will see what happens to the euro

 My son works for an international bank in the City. He told me  the other day they are updating their systems to be able to handle drachma, just in case Greece decides to pull out of the Euro over Christmas. If they're going to do it, that would be  the best time - the markets are closed (or at least pretty quiet) over Christmas, and by  the time they re-open, the panic will be over and the traders will have had a bit of time to absorb the news. Will it make the Euro weaker because it's falling  apart, or stronger because a weak member has departed? Who knows?

I used to be an FX interbank trader in the City and my take on will it be'stronger or weaker' is that it would be weaker with the market looking for the next country to be forced out of the politically inspired should never have existed euro.

:)

Brian

Since I'm orginally from Canada (via Germany 7 years) I tend to think Euro/US dollar and as long as I've been here it's been 1 to 1.5 CDN and just the other day I went online is was 1.3 to 1 huge change!

People tend to forget that before the Euro  all the European economies muddled along in their own sweet way, when things were bad their currencies went down in value making their goods, or tourism more attractive causing a natural but perhaps gradual recovery. The Euro was originally introduced at 72p, unless my memory fails me, it went down in value straight away as people said it couldn't work I think those people are now being proved correct. The Black Adder is a prime example of comic truth perhaps the currency should not have been called the Euro but instead it should have bee named "The Bollock", then as it sinks in the sunset we could all say " They dropped a Bollock with this one". I personally will be glad to see it go.

Why? If the Euro goes it will take a lot of economies with it, not just ones in the Eurozone.

I don't think it's if I think it's when! Though I appreciate what you're saying I don't think that the Euro can survive the current onslaught. I also understand what you're saying but only the strong currencies will come through unscathed, Germany yes, France is not so strong as it makes out, and where do we go from there, Hungary currently has a credit rating of JUNK. This is a very deep subject, Germany will only keep throwing money at the Euro for so long before it decides it's better as a single currency and what happens then?? The sad thing is we''ve had 2 world wars that Germany has lost but they're getting their own back with the economy. If the Euro is going to collapse, isn't it better sooner rather than later??

Why do people keep on about the war!  I am old enough to remember those dreadful times, but hold no animosity toward the current German people for what happend over half a century and two generations ago.  Yes, supporting the Euro is currently very much in the German interest as if they were forced to resort to the Deuchmark there products would become so expensive that no-one could afford to purchase them.  In the likely event that the Euro fails we will all feel the impact.

M.

The breakup of the Euro will cause a lot of problems for a lot of people but I do agree with lacanau that sooner is better than later. We need to get through whatever is going to happen as there will be no return to economic growth until this is sorted out.

Translation please, Frederiks ...