As we wait for the villa survey to complete, inspecting for pesky woodworm, rogue pests, and various structural problems, I can’t help notice that the GBP is nice and strong against the USD. Of course, now that I have written this it will plummet.  Once the survey says “yes you have bought a wonderful house that will last for years and has an indestructible self cleaning pool” then I can look forward to booking a trade with the FX Firm close to the 1.62 point. Strangely, the cash will fly over all the way to the USA only to come wheeling back a month later. The middle men won’t complain.

At least the banks with their huge markup (FX spread) won’t get their grubby hands on my hard earned (read remortgaged) money. 1.55 is a good rate? That would lose me over 9,000 USD!