There’s a version of this story where I’m sitting at a sleek desk, glass of something celebratory nearby, calmly signing documents as the keys to my Spanish investment change hands.
That is not what happened.
The plan
Completion was set for Monday 14th July 2025 at 12pm. I’d chosen the date carefully — Mondays we run a toddler group out of a little play hut in the park. I’d told my volunteer friends what was happening and asked if they’d keep half an eye on my boy if I needed to step away or work on my phone. They were brilliant about it.
The plan was: session finishes at 11.30, everyone moves to the park to play, completion happens at noon, I smile, transfer the money, go home.
What actually happened
Completion at noon turned out to be optimistic. There were multiple signatories on the seller’s side — a family of six who jointly owned the flat — and getting everyone through the notary takes time. The session ended, everyone moved to the park, noon came and went.
By the time the transfer instructions finally came through, my volunteer friends had packed up and gone home. My boy and I were alone in the park, him happily ignoring me on the climbing frame, me hunched over my phone trying to focus.
The money needed to go to six different bank accounts. One for each family member, each with their own share. One by one I sent each payment from my Revolut Business account — carefully checking each reference, each amount, each account number.
And then I hit Revolut’s transfer limit.
The pram homecoming
My boy, by this point, had exhausted the climbing frame, exhausted the swings, and exhausted the last snack he actually liked. He was done. I was not done — I needed to somehow raise my transfer limit urgently to get the final payment through.
I opened the chat on my personal Revolut Metal account — easier to find in a panic than the business one — and explained the situation. The business free tier doesn’t include chat support, which I discovered at the worst possible moment. But the personal Metal plan does, and they transferred me through to the business team anyway.
In hindsight, the limit wasn’t hidden — it’s written in the small print somewhere. But I hadn’t looked, and a brand new business account making six rapid international transfers probably looked suspicious enough to trigger extra scrutiny regardless.
So while all this was being sorted, I did what you do. I strapped him in the pram and started the slow walk home through Walthamstow, one hand on the handle, one hand on the phone, my boy grumbling, me typing furiously into a chat window.
Somewhere between the park and our front door, the limit was raised. The final transfer went through. That was it. I owned a four-bedroom flat in Elche, Spain.
My boy never knew. He was mostly annoyed about the snacks.
What I’d tell anyone doing this remotely
Check your transfer limits well in advance — ideally a week before completion. Revolut Business has daily limits that aren’t obvious until you hit them, and a new account making multiple rapid international transfers may attract additional scrutiny regardless. Getting limits raised beforehand costs nothing and saves a very stressful pram walk.
Have a backup transfer method ready. I didn’t, and got lucky.
And if you’re completing remotely, build in a time buffer. Multiple signatories, notary queues, bank processing delays — noon almost never means noon.