1 Euro Homes in Italy: Here’s the Catch

Alleged 1 euro homes in Italy have captured the attention of Americans seeking a dreamy Italian lifestyle or perhaps to leave the drama in the U.S., but are they legitimate, or too good to be true?

The answer depends on you! But in short, it is true, you could buy a home for 1 Euro in Italy, but it’s probably too good to be true for most people. However the marketing scheme to appeal specifically to people unhappy with politics at home and the lure of cheap investments and living, is absolutely genius.

NOTE: I wrote this before watching the movie “La Dolce Villa”, and I have to give a spoiler alert that everything in that movie is highly unlikely to happen. Well, I guess aside from meeting your lover in a small town in Italy like I did, but even that is unlikely! Anyway!

Since I currently live part time in Sardinia; one of the areas of Italy that has been promoting 1 euro homes, I obviously looked into these cheap homes for investment purposes. I also did a little field trip to one of the towns offering them to show people what it was really like, and get some answers!

Below is a video overview of this post!

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Here’s what I found out when I visted Ollolai, one of the places with 1 euro homes in Italy:

The 1 Euro Homes in Italy are Usually in Small, Remote Towns

There was a viral video with beautiful imagery of a quaint Italian town claiming “This town is offering 1 Euro Homes and a fast track to EU residency”. It was complete click bait, and it absolutely worked. Even for me.

When I searched for said 1 Euro homes, I saw there were some in a town just an hour and a half from where we live in Sardinia, in a town called Ollolai. So I convinced my Sardinian finace to take a little road trip with me to check it out. Even he wanted to see what these 1 Euro Homes looked like.

As mentioned, it took an hour and a half to get there from a town with the closest airport (Olbia), and it required driving on winding mountain roads. There was nothing but nature and farms for most of the drive, and then suddenly we were in a pretty decent sized town!

On the outskirts there were large, modern looking homes and apartment buildings, and on the way inward we did see quite a few “dilapidated homes”. But once we reached the city center, I have to admit, it really was pretty cute, aside from it being completely deserted at 3pm (normal, see below).

Are There Grocery Stores and Malls?

There were no big grocery stores or any type of shops like you’d have back home, so you’d need to drive back to the main town of Olbia for that. As well as to get to the airport. I also didn’t see that many restaurants, and definitely no hotels in this particular town.

Most of these small towns have smaller grocery stores, which is what we have, and for the most part I can find everything I need, but I’m very adaptable. I will say I miss things like ranch dressing, hot sauce, and sugary peanut butter, which I haven’t found yet in my town!

As for shopping, there are several small boutique stores and even some chains like TerraNova and Calzedonia. But options are very limited to their specific styles and the seasons. I usually end up ordering my clothes online or bringing them from abroad.

Yes, There is Wifi and Probably Delivery Services, But They’re Likely Slow

My Italian SIM card worked just fine in Ollolai, and the website for the 1 euro homes states that they have fast wifi. So yes, it is possible to stay connected, and work remotely there.

But if you’re the type of person who makes regular Amazon orders, or needs things delivered for your business, you might be out of luck. Or you’ll just need to learn to be patient, because even in my town near the beach, it takes 5-8 days to get Amazon packages.

1 Euro Homes are in Towns That Likely Don’t Have Many Residents or Visitors

If moving to Italy to meet your lover or make a lot of friends is one of your goals, you might not get very far in one of the 1 Euro home towns. These homes are usually located in places that are experiencing depopulation, and the municipality has joined the campaign in order to draw people back into the area.

That being said, if you are trying to get away from people, this may seem like a dream for you!

Also, feel free to not listen to me on this one since I did meet my lover in a small town in Sardinia. It was by complete chance, and fate, and if you’d like a cute little story, check out My Engagement in Italy!

1 Euro Homes is a Campaign to Help Locals Get Rid of Homes They Don’t Want or Can’t Afford

Everyone wants to know the catch, and what is wrong with these homes that people would want to sell them for 1 euro. Well, the answer is that the owners likely don’t, however they also likely inherited the home or can no longer afford it, so it is costing them more money in taxes than it would to just get rid of it.

This was one of the main incentives the towns took; to help the local people with their financial burdens. And I’m sure it was also an incentive to make the town look nicer, and draw more people back into it!

Since the homes are not being taken care of, that means/confirms that most of them are in pretty bad shape. Some that I drove by looked like just the stone bones of homes! But with the right vision and restorations, I think they could be beautiful!

Others are not the grand old villas you’re probably envisioning, but rather just one or two bedroom apartments in a modern-ish building. Sorry to crush anyone’s ‘The Holiday’ dreams.

You Will Be Required to Spend Thousands on Restorations

If you think you can buy a 1 euro home and immediately move into it, sorry but, I have to laugh a little bit. There’s no way in the world that would ever happen. 

The “rules” for buying a 1 euro home state that you would be responsible for investing a certain amount of money (thousands) into restorations, and that they would need to be done within a year of the purchase.  I believe the minimum amount is $20,000, which still is not bad at all to own a home in Italy!

Some of the towns state that you can apply for financial assistance, so that might be worth looking into!

Oh, and you would likely need to also rent a place to actually live in while the resporations are being done.

Taxes Will Also Be Required to Pay

More of the fine print coming in hot! Yes, you will need to pay property taxes if you buy a home in Italy. Depending on your visa, and what you do with said home, you might also be required to pay income taxes, which are ridiculously high in Italy.

Fun fact though; you can be a resident in Italy, but if you only stay there 183 days or less per year, you don’t have to pay taxes there, as long as you pay them in your home country.

Another one for US citizens ; if you stay OUT of your home country for 11 months or more, you can file your taxes in the US as an expat, which gives you a significantly high tax break. Read my blog post on How to File Expat Taxes for more info!

No, You Don’t Get a Golden Visa for Buying 1 Euro Homes

On the viral video I mentioned, it used “get a fast track residency in Italy” as a perk of buying the 1 euro homes, but I can tell you from experience, that does not exist. It took me months to get a residency through co-habitation with my fiance. Then it took me even more months plus several flaming hoops, and hundreds of dollars just to get married, and I still don’t even have that official paper yet.

Unlike Portugal’s “Golden Visa” incentive, where you automatically get EU citizenship if you drop half a million dollars on a property, you do not get that if you spend 1 euro on a property in Italy. If you did, then I’m pretty sure half of America would be living like royalty in Italy.

According to Ollolai’s 1 euro home program, you have to just come on a tourist visa, or if you qualify for a long term visa, you can attempt one of those. 

I made a full informative post for long term visas in the EU you should check out first before thinking of getting a 1 euro home.

You’ll Need to Learn Italian

Fun fact that surprisingly many people don’t know about Italy, is that a very low percentage of people speak English. In Sardinia, hardly anyone speaks it at all. And in small towns like the ones where the 1 euro homes are, it’s likely no one speaks even a few words of English.

That means, you will need to learn Italian, unless you plan on never speaking to anyone. Which won’t work, because you’ll need to speak to the people you hire for restorations. You should always learn some of the local language anywhere you travel to anyway out of respect for the locals!

A little silverlining for those interested in retiring in Italy, or anyone with a lot of time on their hands – you can enroll in online language classes at an Italian school, and if you can commit to around 25 hours per week, that will qualify you for a long term student visa!

Otherwise, I found online tutors for only $10/hour to help me learn Italian very quickly! Here’s 70% off your first lesson!

Overall, Life Will Be Cheaper and Tranquil But Will Need Many Adjustments

In my opinion, if you have the time, patience, and money to do the 1 euro home project, it would be worth it. That is, if you want to live on just a fraction of the cost you pay back home, eat extremely well, and experience a slower pace of life. And more importantly, IF there are any homes left to buy.

Since I’ve been living in Ogliastra (the actual Blue Zone of Sardinia btw, the whole island is not one), I have definitely loved the incredible food, and not feeling constantly rushed, aside from my constantly over-caffeinated fiance when he wants to do something suddenly.

BUT! I have had to make A LOT of adjustments! For example, it’s still hard for me to remember that almost everything closes from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, except for some restaurants, which doesn’t make sense to me because that’s my prime lunch time. Speaking of lunch, you’ll also need to slow down and adjust to spending at least two hours at any meal!

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Aperitivos is a great thing to have to adjust to; it’s like a reverse happy hour where you buy one drink for around 4 euros, and you get a bunch of free snacks with it. But that means you’ll likely be eating dinner a lot later too.

Relationships are also not the same as in the US. Men in Italy are very passionate and loving, but it seems they need and expect A LOT of attention. Also, the “normal tone of voice” here for everyone, sounds like they’re always angry, even when they’re not. And yes, the over exaggerated hand gestures are definitely a thing!

It seems like most things are pretty old-fashioned here, so if you like living in the present or future, keep that in mind.

Check out my blog post “Project Expat: American Living in Italy” to read about the time a town adopted me for a couple weeks, and what I had to do to adjust!

A Good Return on Investment is Unlikely

Since these 1 euro homes are in lesser known towns, and also farther from airports, there is of course a lower return on investment. Perhaps in the future, if the right people restored homes there, who are also good at marketing, and brought tourism there, it would be different. But I personally wouldn’t go back to Ollolai as a tourist, or to live (but I also prefer cities near a beach).

If you’re just trying to buy yourself a place to live though, I think it’s a great investment for a home at a low cost, and an extreme ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ experience.

You May Be Required to Rent the Restored 1 Euro Home Out for 1 Euro

One thing that confused me on the Ollolai 1 euro home website, was that it states that after you’ve restored the home, you’d be required to “rent it out for a symbolic rate of 1 euro, for 5 years”. And I’m pretty sure that’s 1 euro for all five years, and that it would have to be rented back out to a local Italian person.

So definitely read that fine print before investng your whopping 1 euro on a home in Italy.

SPOILER ALERT: There Are No 1 Euro Homes Left.

Naturally, as a curious entrepreneur, I applied right away for these alleged 1 euro homes in Italy. I never heard back from any of them, and did some research in some of the towns, which said they quickly ran out of them.

That should have been a no-brainer though. Obviously all smart investors would have bought them all up and restored them by now, which the website actually states. It says their first project was a huge success so they are “looking into adding more”.

So, that being said, even if you are thinking about getting a 1 euro home, you likely won’t get one, because the people who thought about it first, already got them!

I did notice that now they are trying to sell things like Lighthouses and “unused areas” for restoration, so if you’re interested in that, hop on it!

Other Ways to Buy a Home in Italy

If you missed out on the 1 euro homes, or you don’t have interest in restoration projects, there are other ways to buy a home in Italy!

You can use websites like idealista.it (watch out for scams though), or search immobilare.it to see local real estate companies!

Just to re-iterate about buying any property in Italy though: 

• You do not get automatic residency, citizenship, or a long term visa
• You will have to pay property taxes and possibly income taxes
• You cannot get a loan or mortgage unless you are at least a resident
• You will need to learn at least a basic level of Italian

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this info, please check out my blog, where I’ve posted tips for almost all of the 140 countries I’ve been to so far!