6 ms·

> Some of these towns sell houses for few thousands Name of the place or it didn't happen :)

kfk 7y ago
Here you go: https://casea1euro.it/case-a-1-euro-in-sardegna-a-15-minuti-dal-mare-ecco-come-fare-per-averle/ https://casea1euro.it/case-a-1-euro-in-sardegna-a-15-minuti-... You buy the house for 1 euro but then you have to fix it. So I guess you have to invest few thousands.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  I don’t know about Italy but in the US fixing up an old house in bad condition can be extremely expensive and time consuming. Cheaper to buy empty land and build a new one.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    A significant portion of homeowners do a significant portion of the work themselves. I wouldn't say it's expected that you'll DIY everything but someone buying a house that needs substantial work without the intention of doing at least some of it themselves would certainly raise eyebrows.
    - marcinzm 7y ago
      Which is why I said time consuming. Since time is finite you also can't simply discount it versus spending money and consider it a net savings.
      - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
        It's a massive net savings for most people because the opportunity cost of free time is very low. Very few people are forgoing income by spending their free time on home improvement versus other things. You're making the same error about opportunity cost as the classic "it's not worth Bill Gates' time to pick up a $100 bill" fallacy.
        Mountain_Skies 7y ago
        Plus if you're a knowledge worker it can help to engage in physical activities and even mental ones that exercise your mind in different ways than your job does. Seymour Cray famously used dig under his backyard when he was stuck on design problems for his supercomputers. He claimed elves from the nearby forest (the destination of the tunnel he was digging) came into his study and solved his problems while he was out digging the tunnel. He considered the digging to be an essential part of his design process.
  - icebraining 7y ago
    The news article talks about an estimation of €20k to renovate them. They're likely not very large, though.
kevinherron 7y ago
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/town-of-mussomeli-in-sicily-italy-selling-houses-for-1-dollar.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/town-of-mussomeli-in-sicily-...
mattrp 7y ago
About ten years ago in some of the rust belt you could buy a house for under twenty - Detroit comes to mind. Some of the sales had conditions that you tear down the structure and agree not to build so that city services could be removed from the town’s budget. There are still deals all over to be had - I’ve long thought it would be fun to have an Instagram of what $1m or less could buy in different parts of the country. I’ve found things like 200 acres / waterfront and numerous structures in Maine and the UP in Michigan. It all depends on your perspective of a “good deal.” But the days on the $50k house going for $2k are long gone.
pjc50 7y ago
UK variant: https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/you-qualify-buy-1-house-774343 https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/you-qualify-buy-1-house... (Stoke-on-Trent is a former pottery manufacture town, and is halfway between the UK's second and third largest cities at roughly an hour and a half's drive or 40 miles per google maps)
dnh44 7y ago
I've read about lots of stories like this in the last few years. Small (generally remote) Italian towns that are shrinking quickly are trying to attract new residents. The catch is generally that you have to live there full time and can't just use it as a holiday home. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/one-dollar-home-sambuca-sicily-italy/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/one-dollar-home-sambu...

kfk 7y ago

Here you go: https://casea1euro.it/case-a-1-euro-in-sardegna-a-15-minuti-dal-mare-ecco-come-fare-per-averle/ https://casea1euro.it/case-a-1-euro-in-sardegna-a-15-minuti-... You buy the house for 1 euro but then you have to fix it. So I guess you have to invest few thousands.

marcinzm 7y ago
I don’t know about Italy but in the US fixing up an old house in bad condition can be extremely expensive and time consuming. Cheaper to buy empty land and build a new one.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  A significant portion of homeowners do a significant portion of the work themselves. I wouldn't say it's expected that you'll DIY everything but someone buying a house that needs substantial work without the intention of doing at least some of it themselves would certainly raise eyebrows.
  - marcinzm 7y ago
    Which is why I said time consuming. Since time is finite you also can't simply discount it versus spending money and consider it a net savings.
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      It's a massive net savings for most people because the opportunity cost of free time is very low. Very few people are forgoing income by spending their free time on home improvement versus other things. You're making the same error about opportunity cost as the classic "it's not worth Bill Gates' time to pick up a $100 bill" fallacy.
      - Mountain_Skies 7y ago
        Plus if you're a knowledge worker it can help to engage in physical activities and even mental ones that exercise your mind in different ways than your job does. Seymour Cray famously used dig under his backyard when he was stuck on design problems for his supercomputers. He claimed elves from the nearby forest (the destination of the tunnel he was digging) came into his study and solved his problems while he was out digging the tunnel. He considered the digging to be an essential part of his design process.
- icebraining 7y ago
  The news article talks about an estimation of €20k to renovate them. They're likely not very large, though.

kevinherron 7y ago

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/town-of-mussomeli-in-sicily-italy-selling-houses-for-1-dollar.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/town-of-mussomeli-in-sicily-...

mattrp 7y ago

About ten years ago in some of the rust belt you could buy a house for under twenty - Detroit comes to mind. Some of the sales had conditions that you tear down the structure and agree not to build so that city services could be removed from the town’s budget. There are still deals all over to be had - I’ve long thought it would be fun to have an Instagram of what $1m or less could buy in different parts of the country. I’ve found things like 200 acres / waterfront and numerous structures in Maine and the UP in Michigan. It all depends on your perspective of a “good deal.” But the days on the $50k house going for $2k are long gone.

pjc50 7y ago

UK variant: https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/you-qualify-buy-1-house-774343 https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/you-qualify-buy-1-house... (Stoke-on-Trent is a former pottery manufacture town, and is halfway between the UK's second and third largest cities at roughly an hour and a half's drive or 40 miles per google maps)

dnh44 7y ago

I've read about lots of stories like this in the last few years. Small (generally remote) Italian towns that are shrinking quickly are trying to attract new residents. The catch is generally that you have to live there full time and can't just use it as a holiday home. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/one-dollar-home-sambuca-sicily-italy/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/one-dollar-home-sambu...