If you have one euro – roughly $1.14 – you can own a home in the Sicilian city of Sambuca – but there’s a catch.
Outside of the obvious competitive nature of being lucky enough to snag one of the homes, you also have to pledge to invest €15,000 in rehabbing one of the homes, as well as putting down a €5,000 security deposit, according to the report from CNN.
(Credit: CNN)
All of the dozens of homes on the market for a single euro are owned by the city, which is using the initiative to bring new investment into a city that’s seen its population dwindling in recent years, according to the report.
“Sambuca is known as the City of Splendor,” Giuseppe Cacioppo, Sambuca’s deputy mayor and tourist councilor told CNN. “This fertile patch of land is dubbed the Earthly Paradise. We’re located inside a natural reserve, packed with history. Gorgeous beaches, woods and mountains surround us. It’s silent and peaceful, an idyllic retreat for a detox stay.”
Less than two days after CNN first published the story, Cacioppo told CNN that the city had received tens of thousands of inquiries. Cacioppo said all the interest has him, “freaking out.”
“It’s just been a few days, and I’m already under stress,” he said. “The €1 houses email inbox is full, so people have been calling me on my mobile. It hasn’t stopped ringing. I have received something like a thousand phone calls, I hope not to go nuts.”
Sambuca is located on the island of Sicily, one of five Italian autonomous regions, situated off the country’s southwest coast.