Tom Murray / Business Insider
A $1 property in Mussomeli, Sicily. Yes, that is a pigeon on that wardrobe.
- I recently traveled all the way to Sicily to visit three towns that have sold homes for as little as $1.
- The housing scheme has been widely trialed throughout Italy as rural towns attempt to revitalize their communities and economies that have suffered at the hands of urbanization.
- While a home in southern Europe for $1 may sound like a dream come true, there is obviously a catch.
- Most of the $1 homes I visited in Sambuca, Mussomeli, and Cammarata were derelict and in dire need of repair.
- However, I was struck by their historic charm and potential - especially once I saw one that had been completely renovated.
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Over the past few months, you may have become aware of a certain phenomenon.
A plethora of Italian towns have adopted a scheme of selling abandoned homes off for 1 euro ($1).
Urbanization has led to the dwindling populations of provincial settlements as cities and their suburbs thrive and become overpopulated. As a result, some of Italy's most beautiful, historic small towns are dying out.
The $1 housing schemes are designed to combat that, and what success there has been so far has led to a proliferation of similar strategies being deployed across the country.
The schemes have received plenty of media coverage, and many of the towns have become inundated with offers from foreigners on their insanely cheap properties.
However, a home for $1 was always going to be too good to be true, and most of these properties are often in a dilapidated condition, requiring thousands of dollars in restoration and renovation to make them habitable again - let alone nice.
I recently traveled all the way to Sicily to visit three of the towns that have adopted the $1 home schemes - Sambuca, Mussomeli, and Cammarata - to see what foreign buyers are really getting themselves into.
Here's what they look like inside, and finally, once they're renovated.