Italian houses for just 1 euro: what's behind such an offer?

Until last Friday (the 4th), one euro was equivalent to about 5.36 Brazilian reals. For that amount of money, you could buy a machine "coffee" in some commercial establishment in Brazil - or buy real estate in Italy. Despite the oddity, some Italian municipalities have been offering the "House for 1 euro" program for more than a decade. However, it pays to be attentive to details to avoid falling into a trap. Generally touch offered houses are very old and there are many rules and procedures to deal with them.

Till last Friday (the 4th), one euro is equivalent to 5.36 Brazilian reals. For that amount of money, you can buy machine coffee from some commercial establishment in Brazil. Or buy real estate in Italy. Despite the oddity, some Italian municipalities offer a "House for 1 euro" program so that interested parties from all over the world can buy property in famous Italian regions, such as Sicily, for a token cost. However, it pays to be attentive to details to avoid falling into a trap. Typically, the homes offered are old and in need of many repairs and are located in sparsely populated municipalities. The initiative aims to revitalize and attract residents to historic villages. In addition, each Italian municipality establishes its own rules regarding the method of acquiring available properties. In the Italian commune of Mussomeli, located in Sicily and with about 11,000 residents, an interested person must sign a purchase application and make a face-to-face visit to the town to inspect the property and understand the value of the associated revitalization costs. Therefore, the process is not possible remotely, unless a professional is hired to broker the transaction.

The buyer must also be prepared to dig into all the bureaucracy such as drafting the public sale within two months of approval of the acquisition, paying all costs associated with the transaction, drafting the restoration of the property and starting the work, also within two months of receiving the building permit. Finally, he will also have to post a bond of 5 thousand euros in favor of the commune of Mussomeli as a guarantee for the completion of the project, which has a maximum duration of three years. "You don't actually buy a house for 1 euro. You buy a project for 1 euro ", - Cristina Elena de Mello, ESPM economics lecturer. "They are looking for people who are able to invest in houses that, in some cases, are very dilapidated." Caution According to Mello, an ESPM instructor, before buying a house, a Brazilian investor should be aware of all the difficulties involved in revitalizing the properties available in the program.

Beware Offers for houses for 1 euro in Italy tend to be in high demand, despite not being widely advertised. To find out about all the opportunities, you should monitor the websites of the Italian municipalities participating in the program. The Case1euro.it website publishes available properties in the commune of Mussomeli, but currently all properties have been sold. Comune.SanteliaaPianisi publishes affordable houses for 1 euro in the comune of Sant'ella Pianisi, Molise region. There are eight options in the program right now. The Italian government is not the only one with such programs. Ireland this year announced money for people to renovate homes on more remote islands. This Estadão article has more details, but the initiative involves paying between 60,000 and 84,000 euros (R$300,000 to R$440,000, roughly) to those who decide to move to one of the country's 30 most remote islands, where the population is declining. Such subsidies are a way that governments have found to reduce population decline in some cities. In any case, it pays to be attentive to the "small details" of contracts. Our editors recommend these materials so you can invest everything better.