Rightmove Overseas partner Smart Currency Exchange answers reader questions about how to save money when transferring money between two countries and currencies.

Living full-time in the Dordogne, I cut all ties with the UK recently when I sold my former home in Yorkshire. I’d like to repatriate the proceeds from this sale, around £150K, to France but I’m fortunate not to be under any financial pressure to need to do this immediately, and anyhow I believe the euro may weaken against the pound in coming months. A friend mentioned one device that could help me transfer my funds at my preferred rate is with a Limit order. Could you tell me a bit more about how this works.

“Yes, you’re lucky to be able to choose when you transfer your money to France and you should certainly use this to your advantage. The first thing we’d recommend though is that you call us at Smart and talk through the precise details of what you want to achieve from your currency transfer – a Limit order might not necessarily be your best option and we’ll advise otherwise.

A Limit order is quite simple. Arranging this type of contract means that your Smart trader will purchase currency, ie make an exchange for you, only when your target rate, which you will have agreed in advance, is achievable. So, say the rate offered by Smart today was £1-€1.21 but you believe it could reach £1-€1.28 in the near future, you could instruct your trader to exchange your pounds into euros only once they could give you the better rate – this may be a week, a month or six months in the future.

Once you’ve set a Limit order with your trader, all you have to do is sit back and wait – Smart will do the rest for you and inform you when the transfer has been made. Remember, to ensure that clients have the best chance of achieving their preferred rate, Smart has access to exchange rates 24 hours a day, even over the weekend on a limit-order basis.”

Using Smart Currency Exchange to make all your currency transfers is the first step to making your pounds go further when buying an overseas property or emigrating – thanks to their bank-beating exchange rates. Smart could also help to secure the cost of your overseas home in pounds, before you have to pay for it in a foreign currency. For a free report on how to save money when making currency transfers click here, or click here to visit the Currency Zone.