A 'COVID-free' village in Italy is selling homes for $1

• Cinquefrondi, a community in southern Italy, is selling homes for €1, or about $1.14.
• While the initial price tag is cheap, the buyers will also be responsible for an annual €250 ($284) policy insurance fee until the home is renovated.
• Cinquefrondi calls itself a "COVID-free village," and hopes that will entice buyers.

A tiny town in the toe of Italy's boot wants new residents — and it'll only cost you €1, or about $1.14.

Cinquefrondi, located in the southern region of Calabria, is selling homes as the country begins to emerge from lockdown. The town calls itself a "COVID-free village," as the community has reported zero cases of the coronavirus.

Mayor Michele Conia calls it "Operation Beauty."

"We rise between the refreshing hills and two warm seas, a pristine river runs nearby and the beaches are just 15 minutes away by car. But a whole district of my town lies abandoned, with empty houses that are also unstable and risky," Conia told CNN.

It's offering these homes at such a cheap price in an attempt to increase the town's population. Young people have a tendency to relocate to bigger cities in search of jobs, so Cinquefrondi wants to welcome new residents to the village.

"Finding new owners for the many abandoned houses we have is a key part of the Operation Beauty [mission] that I have launched to recover degraded, lost parts of town," Conia said.

There are currently about 12 homes available and about 50 more empty dwellings that could potentially end up on the market.

"If we receive a huge demand, I can expropriate all other buildings which have been empty for decades and the old owners are nowhere to be found," Conia told CNN.

This deal works differently than some previous $1 housing deals across Italy. Other towns have required homeowners to place a down payment when purchasing their home. If they fail to renovate it in three years, they forfeit that money.

The only requirement for the deal in Cinquefrondi is that the homeowners pay an annual policy insurance fee of €250 ($284) until work and renovations are completed.

They are liable for a fine of €20,000 (about $22,754) if they don't complete the styling in three years. In towns with similar offers, most homeowners complete their work ahead of time, according to CNN.

An Insider reporter previously visited $1 homes in Italy. He traveled to Sambuca, Mussomeli, and Cammarata, where he discovered that the homes often need massive renovations.

However, the homes in Cinquefrondi are smaller in size, ranging from 323 square feet to 430 square feet, which might mean less to renovate.

"We're just asking for some kind of certainty once a new buyer commits to the project. The policy fee is very low and the cost of a restyle here is within €10,000 to €20,000, or around $11,000 to $23,000, given the dwellings are cozy [and] tiny," Conia told CNN.

Interested buyers can email protocollo@pec.comune.cinquefrondi.rc.it to discover more about the homes.

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