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Currency Focus

Buying Canadian dollars for your emigration or property purchase, international mortgage or pension transfer.
by Nathan Cheeseman – Currency Online, January 2013

For anyone planning a property purchase or emigration to Canada, watching the exchange rate will become a habit. The last year has seen a great deal of Canadian dollar (CAD) volatility.

Several factors, including a broadly weaker USD and rising commodity prices, have driven up the price of the CAD in the second half of the year. What does this mean for you? It means you should be careful not to be caught napping and consequently risk your future wealth!

For example, if you committed to buy a $400,000 CAD apartment near Vancouver in the beginning of June 2012, it would have cost you $383,950 US dollars (USD) at a June 1st exchange rate of 1.0418. Over the next four months, the CAD strengthened almost 7%, meaning that the same property would have cost $412,626 USD on September 14th 2012 at an exchange rate of 0.9694 - an increase of more than $28,000 US dollars! Don’t let this happen to you.

Similarly, if you were going to buy the same property, but were coming from the UK, you would have paid over £5,000 less for the apartment in the beginning of June than you would have in early September.

Fear not, help is at hand!

Each month currency specialists Currency Online Ltd help thousands of people all over the world who are either emigrating or buying a property abroad. Most clients have the same concern: "When is the best time to buy my dollars?"

The only prudent advice is to fix an exchange rate when you agree to buy the house or are confident that you will be emigrating. This will fix your costs and ensure your budget stays on track. The majority of analysts expect to see continued volatility. If you have a series of payments to make, you might choose to secure a rate for the first one or two and use Currency Online to monitor the rate for the remainder. If you do this it is just as important to establish a high and a low target so that you cut your losses if the rate starts to fall.

Sending regular payments to Canada

Currency Online have provided a specialist foreign exchange service for over 25 years and without the overheads of a bank, are able to offer extremely competitive exchange rates and low or even no transaction fees (subject to transaction size). Currency Online operate a 24 hour service so we are always available to help you.

To find out exactly how Currency Online can help you get the best deal on your foreign exchange transactions, feel free to call us on 1800 558 4565 or +64 9 306 7809. Alternatively go to http://www.currencyonline.com . Mention Assignments Canada when speaking with a Currency Online consultant to access preferred rates. Feel free to email one of our team directly at customercare@currencyonline.com.

The details expressed in this article are for information purposes only and are not intended as a solicitation for funds or a recommendation to trade. Currency Online accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages suffered through any act or omission taken as a result of reading or interpreting any of the above information.