[Image: Michael McCain / Facebook]
All those Instagram posts about buying a house in some picturesque European town may seem like clickbait, but the truth is that there are several villages in these countries where you can buy a home for the price of a cup of coffee.
Italy has become one of the leading ‘dollar home’ countries, and one town that’s been low-key selling homes for next-to-nothing is about to release another tranche of real estate – and this time they don’t even require a deposit.
Most one-euro home programs require buyers to pay a deposit, which is returned if and when the work is completed, but there’s always a ‘but’ when you are dealing with Temu prices and the but in this case is that the new owners would have to ‘restyle’ the homes – meaning it needs serious TLC. So that $1 pricetag is the first instalment in a likely expensive endeavour.
“The only requirement is that buyers commit to restyling these houses in three years, but we ask for no downpayment guarantee to start the works. We really want to encourage and support those who come to revive the ancient neighbourhood.”
The latest tranche is composed of the same kind of houses as those that have been sold before: mostly old, some dating back to medieval times with further improvements made during the Renaissance. Most of the houses are up to three stories and average about 120 square metres.
According to local historians, most of these old homes once belonged to local farming families who fled in search of a brighter future elsewhere – particularly after World War II, when bombings destroyed a large chunk of the town’s architectural heritage.
There was a further wave of emigration in the 1970s when families left for the US, Belgium and Venezuela, and to nearby larger towns and cities to work in factories.
The latest releases are all in the small town of Penne, located in a panoramic position spread across two hills in the Abruzzo region. Architectural features include arched stone portals and lavishly decorated monumental fountains.
Another feature of Penne’s program is an agency that helps buyers throughout the ‘restyle’.
Penne’s mayor Gilberto Petrucci tells CNN Travel “We have a team of architects and experts who may advise and support in the renovation works, finding builders and surveyors, showing buyers through renderings what their home will look like once fixed and advising throughout the renovation stages.”
According to the mayor, “The starting cost for a basic restyle of a small-medium size house is in the range of 20,000 euros (R378,000).” Not too bad, even if you think about it in ZAR.
And if you’re not in the mood to plan renovations, there are plenty of turnkey homes on the Penne market, as well as those in need of minimal work. Immediately habitable houses in the area start from 40,000 euros (R756,000).
“We have a glorious past,” he says. “Penne boasts millennial roots which have left signs on its landscape. The first traces of prehistoric settlements date back to the Oschi, an Italic population that lived in the highlands to defend themselves from their enemies.”
Its hilltop location makes it close to both Abruzzo’s Adriatic beaches and gentle slopes for skiing amateurs, and the town holds a yearly picturesque Palio – a horse race through the alleys which recalls the more famous event in Siena, Tuscany.
A little villa overlooking a valley close to the Adriatic Sea seems like a much nicer retirement option than Langebaan if you ask us.
[Source: CNN]
