Most of the well-known Spanish banks have been massively exposed to the collapse of the Spanish property market, and many have been left with a huge inventory of empty stock, made up of repossessed homes on the Spanish costas or entire projects that the banks have taken on from developers in distress. Now, most of the banks in Spain have real estate divisions, with high street shops and websites advertising the properties for sale.

There are many mentions on internet forums and in magazine articles, advising prospective Spanish property bargain-hunters that these banks represent their best chance of finding a bargain in the current distressed Spanish property market.

I believe this is wrong.

I did a spot of research into these so-called ´amazing deals´ from the banks, and it turns out that the stock they are selling is priced no differently than similar units being advertised in more conventional ways, for instance via local estate agents. In fact, in most cases the bank´s selling prices seemed higher than usual, and not at all competitive with what we have been encountering in the ´real world´.

When it comes to considering the large-scale Spanish developments that have been taken over by the banks, then there seem to be some very attractive prices, but of course, you have to take into account ALL of the issues. Yes, these new, key-ready developments may offer buyers very attractive prices, but just take time to consider the bigger picture. A lot of these large developments that fell victim to the credit crunch and the recession were financed to the hilt, were started at the height of the Spanish property boom, and therefore will probably not be in the most desirable of locations with very little local infrastructure supporting their existence. So on paper these cheap Spanish properties may look dirt-cheap, but you be taking a huge risk, and will be hard-pushed to find anyone to rent or buy the place from you.

Of course, the banks in Spain are relying on the offer of great Spanish mortgage deals to attract buyers, and some of them even spoke to me about being able to offer 100% Spanish mortgages to prospective buyers. Again, this is very enticing, but please consider the basics of LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION before committing to any well-marketed campaign from one of these Spanish banks.

Finally, also bear in mind that these banks employ thousands of people, and it is these employees of the banks who are normally given first option on any truly ´great´ property deals. So just consider whether you are really being offered the best deals, or whether these have already been snapped up elsewhere.