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An Italian town is selling vacant houses for one euro. And here's why.

An Italian town is selling vacant houses for one euro. And here's why.

An Italian town is selling vacant houses for one euro. And here's why.

Sales of one-dollar homes in Italy have attracted a lot of interest over the past few years, with dozens of people eager to purchase abandoned properties in some of the country's deserted towns. However, unlike cities such as Mussomeli in Sicily and Cungoli in Campania, which have managed to get rid of various vacant homes, some are struggling to sell their empty houses. Among them is Patrica, a remote medieval village with no more than 3,000 residents south ofRome, where more than 40 abandoned properties, left to decay since the early 1900s, remain.

Located on a rocky plateau overlooking the Sacco Valley in central Italy, Patrica is an idyllic place, but life here has not been easy for the locals in the past. Many families left their homes in search of a brighter future, leaving their houses empty for decades.

In an attempt to breathe new life into the dying village, the mayor of Luccio Fiordaliso tried to replicate the success of other Italian villages that put their empty houses up for sale for one euro, or a little more than a dollar.

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So far, he has not achieved much success. "First, we marked all the abandoned houses and sent an official request to the original owners asking them to transfer their dilapidated family properties, but we have only managed to sell two houses for one euro," says Fiordaliso.

Fior daliso explains that the city received a "positive response" from 10 owners after sending out a "public call to engage them in our one-euro house project," but they backed out at the last moment. The others never responded.

In situations where there are family disputes, relatives may decide not to sell their share due to legal issues related to inheritance disputes, or even out of spite. Original owners, who have been living far away for many years, may fear making themselves known to local authorities and facing property taxes and waste disposal fees of up to 2500 euros (about $2,730) per year, plus unpaid utility bills.

Despite these problems, Fiordaliso does not give up on selling the abandoned houses in the city, even if it means negotiating between feuding relatives.

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