I´ve been renting a property on the Costa del Sol for the last 6 months, having sold my lovely apartment in Rio Real in the 2nd half of 2008. Bearing in mind that I sold my place as the recession started to take hold, I was pretty chuffed that I managed to get the full asking price at the time, albeit I had to include all the furniture as part of the deal. The Spanish buyer had looked at over 40 properties in Marbella, and apparently fell in love with my place and didn´t want to change a thing.

So here we are in April 2009, we are at (or close to) the bottom of the Spanish property market, there are bargains galore, I have cash in the bank, I´m fed up of living in someone else´s apartment, so I´m ready…….ready to invest again in Spain.

I´ve banked with the same bank, Cajamar, for 7 years, I have healthy business and personal accounts, the company has a good asset base, and in spite of tricky economic times generally, I should be in a good position. Surely?