Italian town lists homes for 1 euro — but still can’t find buyers for them

A national law has created a huge hurdle for offloading some historic, and very cheap, houses.

In central Italy’s medieval town of Patrica, a strategy to breathe new life into empty properties has hit a possibly insurmountable snafu.

Patrica recently adopted a plan that has seen success in other depopulated Italian areas: Selling off its deserted abodes for a single euro each — about $1.08 in today’s American currency — to those interested for a fixer-upper opportunity.

It may seem unique and unusual, but these opportunities have popped up in other parts of Italy in the past several years, all in an effort to repopulate the regions where these residences stand.

(A panoramic view of Patrica. Giamby/Wirestock Creators – stock.adobe.com)

(The village is located in the mountains of the Lazio region of Italy, south of Rome. tiziana – stock.adobe.com)

While the campaign has worked in towns such as Sicily’s Mussomeli and the Campania region’s Zungoli, Patrica has barely moved any properties.

That’s because doing so requires permission from the current owners, many of whom left their homes in the early 1900s, according to CNN.

“We first need the availability of owners, or their heirs, in disposing of their old houses,” Lucio Fiordaliso, the mayor of the remote, approximately 3,000-person village, told the outlet of the Italian law that has significantly impeded the homes’ resale. “Only then can we place these properties up for sale with their consent, which makes the process very complicated. Almost impossible.”

Of Patrica’s nearly 40 abandoned residences currently selling for 1 euro, only two have traded hands, both fully owned by locals.

“The disposal of potential 1 euro homes faced a deadlock as most relatives sharing the same property were at odds with one another for personal reasons or couldn’t agree on the sale, some hardly spoke or knew each other, others lived in distant cities and even abroad,” Fiordaliso said, comparing the process for finding heirs and getting them to consent to their near-worthless home’s sale to “looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Ref: Italian town lists homes for 1 euro — but still can’t find buyers for them (nypost)

Photo Credit- Giamby/adobe.com, tiziana stock.adobe.com