Mom buys a house in Italy for62 thousand dollars after she can't afford a house in Atlanta

An American mother struggling with home buying issues in Atlanta is now a proud owner of a home in Italy after expanding her search area.

Stephanie Sinclair decided in2020 that she wanted to purchase her own home and set herself a budget of $450,000 for this purpose. Her search began when mortgage rates dropped during the pandemic in2020, but before she could buy, rates rose again. By2021, Stephanie noticed that homes sold for $300,000 in2019 were now valued at over $800,000, meaning she can't afford a home in one of the neighborhoods she had hoped for.

** During her search, Stephanie Sinclair decided to expand the area in which she was looking for a home. She told CNBC Make It: "I started looking for housing outside of the country to see what's available." In fact, it was more out of curiosity, just a search activity. I do not think that at that moment I knew that it would actually lead to a purchase". Stephanie Sinclair chose Sicily after vacationing there. Credit: CNBC Make It

About ten years ago, before starting the search for a home, Stephanie visited Sicily with her six-year-old son after leaving her job in corporate marketing to start her own consulting business.

After discovering that she had a great time on vacation in Sicily, Stephanie noticed a post in a Facebook group for American expats in Europe discussing affordable homes for sale in Sicily. She learned about the town of Mussomeli, which had previously gone viral for selling dilapidated houses for 1 euro, and she set out to find if there were any more sustainable yet still affordable homes. By November 2022, she found a three-bedroom house with 4000 square feet and two bathrooms for 59,000 euros, about 62,000 dollars. Her mom also planned to spend around 21,000 dollars on renovations.

She is currently still renting a house in Atlanta for $2,275 a month, but she hopes to retire in Italy in the future.