Sarah Stirk

International Payments – Real Estate

Case study

When Sky Sports Golf presenter, Sarah Stirk, decided to buy a second home in Portugal, she turned to GC Partners to make the foreign exchange process as easy as possible. Learn how we did just that.

Introduction

Sky Sports Golf presenter, Sarah Stirk, confessed that she had always wanted to own a property in Portugal and when the opportunity arose, she immediately jumped at the chance. However, being pregnant, the timing was not perfect adding further pressure to the usual stress associated with buying a property abroad.

Sarah explained: “I’d always wanted to try and buy a place in Portugal and finally was able to do so at the beginning of the year. There was a delay, so the timing wasn’t ideal due to the impending arrival of my little boy!”

Challenge

Sarah was aware of how complex the process to purchase the property was going to be, particularly because of the language barrier. Dealing with solicitors and estate agents, the need to set up a bank account in a foreign country to pay for refurbishment costs, all compounded Sarah’s stress of buying her first property abroad.

It was only after Sarah confided in a friend about her concerns around transferring funds abroad that she was recommended GC Partners to assist in making the financial transactions as easy, quick, and secure as possible.

Sarah continued: “I was very nervous about sending money overseas and using an IBAN to pay large amounts made it even more worrying but GC Partners took all the concerns away.” 

Solution

With twenty years’ experience GC Partners were able to use their knowledge of the financial markets to give Sarah personal assistance and make the transfer from Sterling to Euros seamless.

Sarah simply deposited funds into a UK bank account and GC Partners paid the necessary parties in Portugal when required. Additionally, GC Partners were able to provide far better exchange rates than the rates offered by UK banks and removed the fees which are normally associated with the transfer of money internationally.

Often I think customer service is severely lacking with many companies so it is rare to find a business who operate in this manner,” said Sarah. From the very first introduction the service was absolutely fantastic. I really did appreciate how responsive GC Partners were – they always made me feel like my business was important.

With GC Partners help, Sarah was able to establish herself financially over a four-month period and fulfil her dream of owning a property abroad.

If you’re thinking about buying your first property abroad but have reservations, rest assured we will make the process as stress free as possible. Contact us today to see how we can help.

 

FIND OUT MORE TODAY

GC Partners made the whole process of buying abroad very straightforward! I would wholeheartedly recommend them for anyone who needs to send money quickly and effectively overseas. Thank you, GC Partners!»Sarah Stirk