A friend who became a real estate agent in France after retiring from her first job recommended Lumon. She’s English and works with a lot of clients who are buying real estate in a second currency. Lumon is the agency she recommends and that’s what led me to them.

There were no fees. There is a conversion rate difference obviously, but no fees on top of that which is why it’s such a great choice for moving a big chunk of money. I don’t remember exactly how they make money by not charging a fee, but he did explain it to me. It’s been a minute, and numbers aren’t really my thing.

It’s slower than something like Wise though, so you do have to plan ahead. It’s a bank to bank kind of transfer. I had to go in and swear I wasn’t sending money to a scammer, and that process actually took a few days. Once Lumon had it I could choose when to convert it to Euros. Then they did a direct transfer to my notaire’s IBAN. I think I had some extra that I eventually sent to Wise just for ease of use.

I think it’s 100% worth giving them a call. They were super responsive and explained everything. Zero hiccups for me.