A picturesque town in Sardinia is trying to lure Americans fleeing Trump with 1-euro houses
By Lucia Stein
Topic:World Politics
The village of Ollolai in Sardinia is offering homes for as little as 1 euro but there's a catch.
To any millennial or gen Z struggling to buy a house or fatigued office worker trapped in the corporate rat race, it sounds like a deal too good to be true: a slice of Italy for as little as one euro ($1.62).
For less than the price of a latte, an outsider can theoretically secure the keys to a terra cotta casa nestled in a picturesque town on a Mediterranean island. No $100,000 deposit or eye-watering bank loan required.
Of course, there is a catch. The homes on offer for next to nothing in the Sardinian town of Ollolai are in need of some TLC. Or to use the more technical term, a complete renovation.
But the small Italian village is hopeful some Americans will be enticed by its 1 euro housing offer after Donald Trump's election victory in the United States earlier this month.
Shortly after the November 5 poll, the Ollolai council launched a website aimed at disillusioned Americans looking to make a move abroad, offering cheap "fixer-uppers" for purchase in a deal seemingly pulled from the mid-afternoon daydreams of weary office workers.
Presumably, a similar offer is forthcoming for Australians who may become fed up with the political system after next year's election.
Ollolai has been selling cheap homes to outsiders since 2018 and last year expanded its push to digital nomads, advertising working spaces and rentals for 1 euro as well.
The schemes reflect a grim reality for the rural village, which sits in a mountainous area inland from Sardinia's sweeping coast.
Ollolai is searching for new residents to replenish its dwindling population after experiencing an exodus of young people searching for better work opportunities and flashier lifestyles in Italy's metropolises.
At the turn of the last century, Ollolai's population stood at 2,250. It has now shrunk to 1,300.
With the population in steep decline and economic growth prospects narrowing, the local council is getting creative.
"Are you worn out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities?" the website asks.
"It's time to start building your European escape in the stunning paradise of Sardinia."
The initiative is reminiscent of offers made by other villages dotted along the famous boot, which have achieved mixed success in delivering the much-desired influx of newcomers to Italy's shores.
In the small town of Mussomeli, a village in central Sicily that is also offering 1 euro homes for sale, as many as 400 people have taken part in the project.
Buyers must restore their houses within three years and pay a 5,000 euro deposit to the municipality, which they risk losing if they fail to meet the renovation deadline.
When Foreign Correspondent travelled there earlier this year, new home owners explained some of the difficulties of moving halfway across the world to start huge renovation projects within a set timeframe.
But Ollolai's 1 euro housing project doesn't have the same caveats. Its mayor has only made one request: he wants Americans, lots of them.
Ollolai's plea to Americans: Buy our houses
Up to 25 Italian municipalities are now selling homes for the symbolic price of 1 euro to "revive abandoned centres", improve the housing environment and "reclaim their cultural identity".
The schemes are usually launched by the local government, which acts as a kind of real estate broker, to attract interest from would-be buyers all over the world.
The actual sale is negotiated between the seller and the interested party.
Those selling usually consist of Italians uninterested in renovating crumbling properties inherited from a family member or deterred by the tax levy imposed on owning more than one home.
Italy, unlike Australia, does not have a generous tax break for landlords, deterring prospective investors from owning multiple homes.
The point of difference in Ollolai's 1 euro housing proposal is that it is more blatant about its target audience.
Ollolai has been offering a one euro scheme to outsiders for years.
"We just really want, and will focus on, Americans above all," Mayor Francesco Columbu told CNN.
"We can't of course ban people from other countries to apply, but Americans will have a fast-track procedure.
"We are betting on them to help us revive the village, they are our winning card."
There is some logic behind his appeal. In March, Marco Permunian who runs the Italian Citizenship Assistance consultancy, told The Times he was expecting to assist "over 5,000 new enquiries" from Americans looking to move to the US in 2024.
He said it would be their busiest year ever, and "the US election campaign is a big factor".
"We saw a spike in requests after the 2016 election, another before the 2020 election and another the day after the Supreme Court ruled against abortion, but it is not just people who oppose Trump applying — there is a general frustration with politics," he told the outlet.
Shortly after the US election, Google Trends results for tech relocation website MoveBuddha recorded a spike in traffic from Americans thinking about moving overseas.
The website noticed an 854 per cent increase in readership on an article on countries that pay people to relocate from November 5 to November 6.
Mr Columbu told US media the Ollolai council had received 38,000 requests in relation to their housing scheme. But it's not clear how many will equate to actual sales.
Quitting the daily grind of a 9:00am to 5:00pm life, packing up and starting a new adventure overseas sounds like a thrilling opportunity — until reality sets in.
Along with all the normal, dreary parts of moving, there is the added task of learning a new language and tackling a series of unfamiliar administrative hurdles, including residency applications, signing up to a foreign tax system and lodging the correct permits.
And that's all before you can even move into your dream home and begin the renovation.
To get around this, the Ollolai website states a special team will be set up to guide interested buyers through every step of the purchase, from private inspections to organising contractors, and even navigating the required paperwork.
And for those prepared to pay a little more — up to 100,000 euros — Ollolai is even offering move-in-ready apartments.
But how many Americans have actually left the United States and moved across an ocean to buy a home in Europe?
Living La Dolce Vita
For more than a century, Italians have flocked to the United States in search of the great American dream.
Faced with limited economic opportunities, men and women from the southern part of Italy saw the land of the free as their chance to start a better life.
Now it appears that wave of migration is happening in reverse, with Americans arriving on Italy's doorstep in search of something different, something slower.
Something a lot like La Dolce Vita.
Christina and Paul believe Americans are coming to Italy in search of connection.
"Of course, [the Italians] left for a different reason, but now people want to return back to a life that has meaning," said Christina Sobolev, an American expat living in Italy.
"It's unspoken but they want to get back to what's really important in life: connection and experience."
Christina and her husband, Pete Sobolev, bought a house in the village of Santa Domenica Talao, near Scalea in Calabria, in 2011 after they discussed finding a shared goal for their life, separate from their everyday working lives in America.
They stayed in the area for a few years before moving to another village and starting a travel business to help other Americans holidaying overseas.
But when the pandemic hit, the work dried up and the couple decided to use their experience renovating their home to fix and sell other houses in Italy.
When borders opened again, the couple noticed a surge in people wanting to buy properties in Italy, which sparked the idea for their next venture: helping Americans unfamiliar with the country's complex real estate system navigate its rules and quirks.
"There was a flood of people coming over all at the same time wanting these properties," Christina said.
"And [my colleague] Antonello and I were exhausted. At one point somebody came out of the bar and they said, 'oh, there's a bunch of people in the Piazza who hadn't made appointments with us, and they want properties'.
"Antonella looked at me and she said, 'what have we done?'"
Christina and Pete lived in California before deciding to move to Italy over a decade ago.
They say interest from American expats wanting to buy in Italy has only grown since then in tandem with the expansion of 1 euro housing schemes in rural villages.
The surge in inflation after the pandemic has also been a factor, prompting some Americans to contemplate moving to a country with a cheaper cost of living, including lower priced healthcare and less expensive housing.
But the couple remain a little sceptical of the cheap property deals on offer and whether they will be successful in reviving the places spruiking them.
They highlight Ollolai's offer of 1 euro workspaces to digital nomads and almost free rentals in exchange for visitors contributing to the town, with an art project or community initiative, as better ideas to foster economic growth and attract outsiders.
"[The digital nomad visa] would get people from all over the world coming here, working and … [paying] taxes," Christina said.
"They're going to be promoting and helping the economy just by being there, buying furniture, getting renovations, eating at the restaurants, all of those things."
Advice for would-be expats
With more than a decade of experience under their belts, Christina and Pete have plenty of lessons for people contemplating a spur-of-the-moment purchase. Their biggest takeaway? Think twice.
"It's a huge, huge life change. You have to do your research," Christina said.
The couple recount endless anecdotes of the renovation disasters and administrative hurdles they've experienced or heard about during their time in Italy.
One of the biggest pitfalls can be the unexpected costs that crop up while renovating older houses.
Christina and Pete have fixed and sold properties throughout Italy, including in Santa Domenica.
"If you buy [a 1 euro home for example], it's usually these historic centre houses all kind of stuck together, like an apartment complex, but they call it a house," she said.
"Maybe you're buying the one [on] the middle [floor], and you renovate [it], but the [apartment above] leaks and the water comes into your unit, which we actually saw, though they didn't go through us.
"You might have to fix the walls and somebody else's roof and somebody else's structure just to have yours be OK."
The couple's advice to those contemplating a move to Italy is to get your affairs in order first before quitting your job and ending your lease or selling your home.
"[People] contact us, and we do our calls with them, and they're like 'we put our house on the market and we're moving to Italy'. And I go, 'OK, good. So you have your residency, right?' And they're like, 'no'," Christina said.
Applying for a residency, learning the language and figuring out your financial situation and whether you will need to find a job are all steps you will need to take before boarding the plane.
Christina and Pete also recommend not getting lured in by a 1 euro house, but thinking about where you'd like to live first, whether it's accessible and has the amenities you require.
"The bottom line is, the search is really the most fun part. The property viewings, figuring out where you feel the most at home, that's the fun part of the process," she said.
Ultimately, the couple believe moving to Italy was the right decision for them, allowing them to explore a shared dream and find connection in a vibrant community.
But they faced a lot of raised eyebrows along the way.
"Initially, of course, there's always people like, 'Oh, you're crazy,'" Christina said.
"But who's the crazy one? The one who comes in and looks and does all the research? Or is it the one that sits back in their little comfort zone and tells you you're crazy?"
Christina Sobolev bought a house in Italy with her partner and has been renovating and helping others do the same ever since.
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