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Italian village offers $1 homes to Americans upset by the US election result

Allan said:
I've seen articles about Americans who've made it work. They bought in at a higher price point though.
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Sure. People who know what they’re getting themselves into and have the time, money, and inclination for such a major undertaking make it work. Frances Mayes is probably the best known example, but nobody really talks about the millions of dollars she had to spend rebuilding and renovating the place into what it is today.
Allan said:
As for "a fortune" this is rural Italy. Trades people aren't that expensive.
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You’re making it sound as though this is just slapping tiles on the bathroom wall. These properties are often centuries old, abandoned, with no plumbing or electricity and so structurally unsound they’re in danger of collapse at any moment. When the Italians say you have to “renovate” them what they mean is you essentially have to rebuild them from the ground up.

It would be cheaper just to buy a modern house. But there’s a sucker born every minute and the Italians know it. Theres a reason they’re only $1 and they don’t sell on the domestic market.
 
As others have said, this is a long running ploy, only amped up because of the election results, and if someone is foolish enough to buy a "home" for $1 dollar somewhere in a small town in Italy somewhere, you deserve the likely outcome of immigration, regulation, renovation, inspection, and all the pain and hell that comes with it.

If Italians were all that interested in these properties themselves, even investment would have come in by now and flipped the property to better homes, or some other use. But much like the near 4 million empty homes in Spain (by various causes,) there is another near 10 million empty homes across all of Italy (again by various causes.)

Buyer beware... on steroids.
 
Portugal and Spain are the places to go to live in Europe!
 
OrphanSlug said:
As others have said, this is a long running ploy, only amped up because of the election results, and if someone is foolish enough to buy a "home" for $1 dollar somewhere in a small town in Italy somewhere, you deserve the likely outcome of immigration, regulation, renovation, inspection, and all the pain and hell that comes with it.

If Italians were all that interested in these properties themselves, even investment would have come in by now and flipped the property to better homes, or some other use. But much like the near 4 million empty homes in Spain (by various causes,) there is another near 10 million empty homes across all of Italy (again by various causes.)

Buyer beware... on steroids.
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Yeah, these aren’t so much houses as they are ruins from a bygone age. Usually the Middle Ages and usually in towns that are almost completely abandoned.
 
Allan said:
That kidnapping fad ended in the late 70s.
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The part that was taking place on the Italian mainland — political motives as well monetary during the so-called Years of Lead (bullets).

Rather than a “fad” kidnapping in Sardegna goes back centuries — outsiders governing (such as Aragon/Spain) with near total neglect.

There’s still poverty and unemployment in Sardegna away from the tourist areas — ergo depopulated towns in the interior such as Ollolai.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Except if you're old and disabled otherwise I'd be seriously looking into it because my mother's side of the family is Italian and my mother came over on the boat with her parents in the 1920's.
If I was younger and my wife was healthier we'd be thinking of putting the house on the market and retiring in Italy.
Also, rural Italy is hardly wheelchair accessible, so that would definitely be a problem.
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I was seriously considering Italian citizenship, and had obtained the Italian birth certificates for both my maternal and paternal grandfathers. Berlusconi and his introduction of politicians tied to organized crime gave me pause. The rise of the hyper-nationalist Lega and the neo-fascists ended my plans for living in Italy.
 
LostInSeattle said:
No, he said that about 2024. In any case, according to him, he did not lose in 2020.
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He said it in 2020 and if all you have to do is deny reality, then Trump lost in 2024 so no one has to leave.
 
I'm tangentially familiar with the concept. There is definitely an HOA-ish principle to the idea since you're required to maintain a certain look. Also, let's say you move into a house with a vineyard or olive grove: you may be required to harvest the grapes or the olives from the property. The upside is you can live in some pretty fantastic areas that are invariably the sets for "Female writer buys house in Tuscany to escape American work-life nonsense and meets the man of her dreams there" movies. Actually, that's the plot of every movie where an American buys a villa in Tuscany. There may be a law against "Man escapes to countryside villa in Tuscany and finds happiness playing Grand Theft Auto."
 
Bok Tuklo said:
He said it in 2020 and if all you have to do is deny reality, then Trump lost in 2024 so no one has to leave.
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Did he? I couldn't find any reference. Do yoy have one. What do you mean about denying reality? I didn't claim he didn't lose in 2020 (he most certainly did). I said he claims not to have lost.
 
Cardinal said:
I'm tangentially familiar with the concept. There is definitely an HOA-ish principle to the idea since you're required to maintain a certain look. Also, let's say you move into a house with a vineyard or olive grove: you may be required to harvest the grapes or the olives from the property. The upside is you can live in some pretty fantastic areas that are invariably the sets for "Female writer buys house in Tuscany to escape American work-life nonsense and meets the man of her dreams there" movies. Actually, that's the plot of every movie where an American buys a villa in Tuscany. There may be a law against "Man escapes to countryside villa in Tuscany and finds happiness playing Grand Theft Auto."
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That and it’s always disappointing when they cast some babe in the movie and you find out the real woman is an 84 year old hag with tits down to her ankles.
 
venice_ca said:
I was seriously considering Italian citizenship, and had obtained the Italian birth certificates for both my maternal and paternal grandfathers. Berlusconi and his introduction of politicians tied to organized crime gave me pause. The rise of the hyper-nationalist Lega and the neo-fascists ended my plans for living in Italy.
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I don't think that is going to last and, in any case, Italian politics will never be anything but nutso but the good thing is, most Italians think globally but act locally. Notice there are no throngs of adoring crowds adoring and defending Miss Musso the way our MAGA's worship Trump.
She's fash-adjacent and I'd even say a little bit fash-curious but she is not slurping Putin's twig and berries.

I think in a couple years time (or less) "Miss Musso" is going to become irrelevant.
 
Cardinal said:
I'm tangentially familiar with the concept. There is definitely an HOA-ish principle to the idea since you're required to maintain a certain look. Also, let's say you move into a house with a vineyard or olive grove: you may be required to harvest the grapes or the olives from the property. The upside is you can live in some pretty fantastic areas that are invariably the sets for "Female writer buys house in Tuscany to escape American work-life nonsense and meets the man of her dreams there" movies. Actually, that's the plot of every movie where an American buys a villa in Tuscany. There may be a law against "Man escapes to countryside villa in Tuscany and finds happiness playing Grand Theft Auto."
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How about a reverse version adaptation of "Cinema Paradiso" where an American cinematographer and editor leaves Hollywood and retires to a small Italian town and sets up an apprenticeship program for up and coming film buff kids?
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
I don't think that is going to last and, in any case, Italian politics will never be anything but nutso but the good thing is, most Italians think globally but act locally. Notice there are no throngs of adoring crowds adoring and defending Miss Musso the way our MAGA's worship Trump.
She's fash-adjacent and I'd even say a little bit fash-curious but she is not slurping Putin's twig and berries.

I think in a couple years time (or less) "Miss Musso" is going to become irrelevant.
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Casa [Ezra] Pound is still agitating against immigrants as well as Lega. There is never a shortage of scapegoats for the far right to attack.

At some point there’ll be a worsening crisis of refugees v the need for population replacement due to low birth Italian rates.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
How about a reverse version adaptation of "Cinema Paradiso" where an American cinematographer and editor leaves Hollywood and retires to a small Italian town and sets up an apprenticeship program for up and coming film buff kids?
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Sounds like what happens in real life all the time anyway.
 
I have a friend who did this- not the $1 house, but a similarly distressed property in Tuscany (they dont do homes for $1 in Tuscany - its pretty pricey).

With permits and fees and renovations, plus the cost of the property (which is gorgeous with a view of the famous Tuscan countryside) which has a nice little olive grove on it, it was about $120k, and its a beautiful home. I would imagine in Sardinia it would be half this cost. So…not really a scam at all, plus they get a nice little crop of olive oil every other year or so, which basically equates to free olive oil forever, with maybe a little bit of extra profit from selling olives to the olive press.
 
beefheart said:
Portugal and Spain are the places to go to live in Europe!
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The Portuguese are having their fill of Americans in Lisbon, so maybe not there. Spain is great, and the house I have there is in the greener part of the country, because while I love southern Spain, the more arid parts always keep me thirsty.
😉
 
Allan said:
I've seen articles about Americans who've made it work. They bought in at a higher price point though.

As for "a fortune" this is rural Italy. Trades people aren't that expensive.

It's suitable for maybe retired people who want adventure, slower pace and a lower cost of living with healthcare coverage.

In Italy an American who can prove Italian ancestry is considered Italian under the principle of jure sanguinis and would find citizenship an easy process.
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Cost of living outside major metropolitan cities is vey inexpensive. Especially groceries. Trades people are hit and miss and not a route I'd want to take unless you had relatives or close friends living there. The one nice thing about Italy is everyone's place is clean and people take pride in their homes.
 
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