Couple who bought €1 house in Italy break down the true cost of moving there
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Italy's €1 home promotion has attracted buyers from all around the world over the past few years - and it sounds like a dream.
Purchasing a house in the heart of Sicily for less than the price of a coffee really is a fairytale scenario, perhaps the equivalent of winning the lottery.
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However, an American couple has revealed that the 'deal of a lifetime' isn't exactly what it says on the tin.
In 2019, Tam and Gary Holm sent an email to the mayor of Sambuca di Sicilia to find out if the €1 scheme was legit.
"He said there were tours of the town and the houses they were selling for €1," Tam told Business Insider.
Gary - who was working in England at the time - said the couple 'had some doubts', thinking: "Are they really selling these houses for one euro?"
"There were some stipulations"
The pair decided to take part in the €1 property scheme, only to realise that they didn't read the small print.
"It turned out that the auctions started at a euro. We ended up bidding €5,000 ($4,000) for one and lost," Gary explained.
"But we knew this town was special. I instantly fell in love. So, instead, we opted for a private sale.
"We looked at maybe 10 or 15 houses, and the one we went with was special."
Tam added: "If you were lucky enough to get one of the one-euro houses, they did most of the paperwork for you, but there were some stipulations.
"You had a time limit to renovate it, had to use certain contractors, and there was a lot of guidance.
"I'm glad we weren't stuck with that. However, it meant we had to figure it out all alone."
The couple revealed that their initial investment on the house was €19,000 (£16,000).
Gary said: "But it needed plumbing, some electrical work, etc. Then, we realized that the place right next door had just gone up for sale.
"There is no land, and it's a house that shares three walls with other houses, so the only way to make the place bigger would be with one of the adjacent houses."
They then decided to purchase the house next door for €8,000 (£7,000), spending €27,000 (£23,000) upfront.
"It's not a ton of money, but it's not a euro or two euros," Gary said.
"Another big expense was that we thought we could just put a hole in the wall between the two houses.
"But it turned out that one had a lower floor than the other, so the engineering side cost a lot of money.
"Our whole costings were around $160,000 (£137,000)."
It still works out a lot cheaper than the UK average house price at £281,913 but there's no doubt it came with more baggage than the couple had initially thought.
"You get to live this sort of dream"
That being said, the couple have no regrets.
Gary said: "I think that the one-euro program was brilliant, in my opinion, because it gave some people a chance to get houses for very little money, and it brought us here.
"You get to live this sort of dream; who doesn't want to have a house in Italy?"
Anish Vij