Residential property FX – it’s time to connect the dots

Buying a property abroad can be one of the best things that someone can do.

Whether buying it for themselves, with friends or family as a holiday home, as a buy-to-let or capital growth investment, a ‘place in the sun’ is a well-established way to invest cash into an income-yielding asset.

But, buying a property – particularly when it’s in a different country – can be one of the most stressful things your customers will ever experience. While the appeal of owning a property abroad continues to grow, it certainly comes with its struggles.

From the cost inefficiencies and regulatory challenges to legal nuances, time differences and language barriers, transacting on residential property internationally is a hard landscape to navigate. A lot of people would probably agree that the process of purchasing property abroad is convoluted and complicated – in fact, consumers say that buying a house is the seventh most stressful event they’ll experience in their lives, according to a survey by Benenden Health.

A separate survey, commissioned by Moneybox Homebuying, showed that some of the top causes of stress for homebuyers were solicitors not getting back to them and the amount of admin involved. The survey went on to reveal that three in 10 homebuyers encountered unexpected delays in the process, and that one of the biggest causes of stress was not feeling in control of the process.

It’s clear the system isn’t efficient. And that’s no one’s fault. But it’s something we can all do something about.

Because of the challenges of the current system, for some of your current or prospective customers, that might mean they decide not to buy a home overseas at all. Or not to repeat the experience a second, third or fourth time. Or perhaps even that, unfairly, they’ll blame your business for the stress and delays and take their custom elsewhere next time (and, of course, go through the exact same pain points).

The inefficiency in the system is costing them – and you – money.

For many years now, the residential property sector has been crying out to be rebuilt. Despite it being an age-old industry, it hasn’t had the attention it deserves. A historical void of innovation has resulted in an archaic, slow and complicated system, which is ripe for change.

The majority of the population go through the process of buying a property, whether domestically or internationally, at least once in their lives and you’d therefore expect there would be a simple step-by-step process in place. Instead, there is a lot of scrutiny around the process. But that’s not to say it can’t be fixed.

At Redpin, we believe there is a better way. We’ve so far partnered with over 15,000 businesses that impact the purchase and property management process– and we’re not stopping there. We believe that by combining embedded software with our global payments network and heritage in FX, we are uniquely positioning to solve this problem for good.

Blackstone’s strategic investment with the continued support from our existing investors Corsair and Palamon has provided us with an exceptional opportunity to create something that’s never been done before

Through best-in-class integrated software, underpinned by reliable payments infrastructure we are simplifying this complex ecosystem to create the first ever dedicated solution for the international property market.

We’re reshaping the age-old property market by connecting the dots across the entire ecosystem, from legal service firms and title companies to property management, banks and real estate agents. Our payment platform offers comprehensive capabilities to help make international property transactions simple and seamless, no matter where businesses or their customers are in the world.

To date, our global payments network securely serves customers in over 235 territories, in over 50 currencies. Buying a property is likely to be one of the largest investments consumers will ever make and we’re committed to create a solution That simplifies life’s most important payments for global citizens and businesses everywhere.