Ok. I´ve seen the place I want. It´s gorgeous. It´s a 3 bed townhouse in Rio Real – yes I know, going back to the same area, but it is nice, trust me. In fact, it´s not really a townhouse. It´s a semi-detached villa, with all of the boxes ticked – covered terrace, eat-in kitchen, fireplace, great views, south-east facing. It needs a lick of paint and a bit of updating, but it´s been reduced from €620k to €470k and is located in one of Marbella´s best areas. Having sold my 2 bed apartment for €499,000 last year, I could even end up ´quids-in´ on this whole house-moving experience if I get the place for a good price.

Apparently the vendor isn´t desperate. He retained a 10% deposit from a buyer who was unable to complete last year, hence why it´s now at a lower price.

Off I go to see my Spanish bank manager at Cajamar. After 3 meetings, there is still no commitment from the bank to lend me the money that I need for a mortgage in Spain. It´s not as if I´m trying to borrow 90%…or 80%…or 70% - far from it, so why is there a problem? Despite me banking with Cajamar for the last 7 years, it seems that they are reluctant to lend to anyone involved in Spanish real estate….in fact, make that ´anyone´ full stop! Also, the fact that I invested the proceeds of my house sale elsewhere last year hasn´t gone down too well. So I offer to send the investment funds back to Cajamar in return for a sure-fire mortgage offer.

I wait 2 weeks, and still no offer. So now I´m seriously demoralised, and am determined to transfer all of my banking elsewhere.

I go to Lloyds TSB in Puerto Banus and to Solbank in Elviria. Both are keen to do business, and within 48 hours, I have 2 mortgage offers, both of which are competitive.

I´m mortgage approved – let´s secure the property!