I've heard of people buying shitty run-down houses in rural Sicily, spending tens of thousands of euros renovating them then ending up owning an affordable home. Sometimes I'm tempted to do it, and holding a European passport I realistically can, but doubt it's worth it. I don't speak Italian, doubt there's many jobs available and rural towns are boring places.
Would you buy a €1 home in rural Sicily?
- Thread starter captain_obvious
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Only do it if you can afford to renovate/rebuild it and pay whatever other fees come with it.
What European passport is that? If you don't mind saying.
Nah. I'm not really interested in ending up handing over mi nuova casa to the Cosa Nostra at some point.
Jobs available does extend to remote work and internet delivered jobs (can do computer design work quite happily in a shack in Thailand or a fleapit renting for 50 times what I would pay there in New York), though yeah the general state of things there/reason for the cheapness is a lot of the kids run off to find better stuff elsewhere (and it is not like mainline Italy is doing that well https://www.statista.com/topics/6292/youth-unemployment-in-italy/ ). If you can supplement that as well with something to make the locals like you (buying from them might well be enough) then so much the better -- I have a little machine shop so don't mind fixing farmer Alceu's tractor wheel at local rates.
If it is to live in then that is a bonus for you -- various people and places have seen this over the course of things* where you buy some run down quasi mansion or shack, spend a not inconsiderable sum and wind up with something valued at about what you paid for it initially. Do also be careful you are getting something worth having (nice asbestos laden shack is well within reason) and what local regs say you need to do any work (I am tasked with designing things for machines that if I screw up destroy millions and possibly end lives, I would have to fight to say I can replace a socket in my house because pointless UK regs with similar stories across the EU).
*saw it in France in the 90s and early 2000s, even in the populated parts (middle strip of France is basically uninhabited), saw it in Spain in various places, Germany is an odd case (no small amount of derelict) but had some as well, few had that in Finland (granted this was more the second home/retirement summer cottage thing being popular at one point in time), Poland had a bit but that was more mass temporary emigration of youth which has sort of ended. As populations enter decline over the coming decades there will likely be some fun things too.
You may also wish to consider your health -- if you are a 20-30 something male with nothing worth speaking of then great, if you are thinking of it as a retirement option and the conditions that come with age then there might be questions (granted it is still western Europe so probably better than most in the US can afford).
If it is to live in then that is a bonus for you -- various people and places have seen this over the course of things* where you buy some run down quasi mansion or shack, spend a not inconsiderable sum and wind up with something valued at about what you paid for it initially. Do also be careful you are getting something worth having (nice asbestos laden shack is well within reason) and what local regs say you need to do any work (I am tasked with designing things for machines that if I screw up destroy millions and possibly end lives, I would have to fight to say I can replace a socket in my house because pointless UK regs with similar stories across the EU).
*saw it in France in the 90s and early 2000s, even in the populated parts (middle strip of France is basically uninhabited), saw it in Spain in various places, Germany is an odd case (no small amount of derelict) but had some as well, few had that in Finland (granted this was more the second home/retirement summer cottage thing being popular at one point in time), Poland had a bit but that was more mass temporary emigration of youth which has sort of ended. As populations enter decline over the coming decades there will likely be some fun things too.
You may also wish to consider your health -- if you are a 20-30 something male with nothing worth speaking of then great, if you are thinking of it as a retirement option and the conditions that come with age then there might be questions (granted it is still western Europe so probably better than most in the US can afford).
Depends on where it is. If anywhere near Agrigento, forget it. That place has been steadily voted as the worst place to live in Italy for decades.
If you want to do everything by the books it's very bad, almost Australian level - which is why I find the latter part of the quote weird, as I know the legal definition of electrician in the UK is for most purposes "anyone who in good faith considers themselves competent to perform the specific job" and the only mandatory safety regulation being Building Regulations Part P (as well as the notification rules which are pretty much a tax on non-scheme labor by another name)...
Anyway, the market for building "parts and labor" went to shit and still hasn't recovered so consider that while estimating prices and times (not because of covid, in part because of the governments' reaction to it, more importantly because of the superbonus scam*)
* Government will rebate 110% of cost incurred for house improvement work as long as it improves sufficiently the equally stupidly "calculated" energy efficiency class! If you qualify you can even tack on some additions with a 50% rebate!
Apart from obviously causing price hikes, it requires both the house and the work to be legal in the first place (their interest) and, wait for it, it can be retroactively canceled at any time in the next 6 years for irregularities and the owner (who still ultimately ordered the work) assumes all direct risk!
I still hope that will happen to this house for schadenfreude against those who voted for it and the still ongoing hassle it's causing
Oh yeah, subappalti (outsourcing), creative accounting, corruption (aka Italian Solution) are a thing in Italy
If you were doing electricals in the UK in the early 2000s through 2010 then you could have got away with that. Between notifiable acts (could probably get away with the socket, a spur would be one), home insurance requirements (most would have this as mortgages require it. Hopefully you are not self employed and having customers into your home or renting the place out) and the like said good faith has largely transformed into wants to be a registered competent persons scheme (which is not just NIC EIC but might as well be for many purposes) with all the aggravation there. Tools wise it is also going to be up there -- hope you have a torque screwdriver and big boy (annually calibrated*) multimeter and tester probably clocking several hundred for said thing. I agree it is not quite full Australia or kiwi land but if someone is coming from the US (and presumably not California, New York or otherwise similarly up their own arse) it is worth noting.If you want to do everything by the books it's very bad, almost Australian level - which is why I find the latter part of the quote weird, as I know the legal definition of electrician in the UK is for most purposes "anyone who in good faith considers themselves competent to perform the specific job" and the only mandatory safety regulation being Building Regulations Part P (as well as the notification rules which are pretty much a tax on non-scheme labor by another name)...
Anyway, the market for building "parts and labor" went to shit and still hasn't recovered so consider that while estimating prices and times (not because of covid, in part because of the governments' reaction to it, more importantly because of the superbonus scam*)
* Government will rebate 110% of cost incurred for house improvement work as long as it improves sufficiently the equally stupidly "calculated" energy efficiency class! If you qualify you can even tack on some additions with a 50% rebate!
Apart from obviously causing price hikes, it requires both the house and the work to be legal in the first place (their interest) and, wait for it, it can be retroactively canceled at any time in the next 6 years for irregularities and the owner (who still ultimately ordered the work) assumes all direct risk!
I still hope that will happen to this house for schadenfreude against those who voted for it and the still ongoing hassle it's causing
Oh yeah, subappalti (outsourcing), creative accounting, corruption (aka Italian Solution) are a thing in Italy
Wind in similar annoyances if you wanted to replace a window (UK wise that is, don't know Italian or Sicilian sub regs for that one), plumbing is still fairly free with insurance having to prove their case, gas I suppose we could forgive and inspection requirements on the dirtier and mechanical aspects (never mind if you end up in one of the thousands of listed buildings) of the building trade it is a nightmare.
*that is a debate, though if you are playing to NIC EIC regs then probably want it and if arguing it court (as you might want to imagine) then it is not a great position.
Glad to see others suffering silliness with the energy efficiency thing. Remember a friend having to have a full assessment to replace a back room (started out single skin brick wall, single pane glass window, no insulation concrete floor, no insulation roof and had been for a century), the resulting thing even noting the simultaneous addition of a wood burning stove elsewhere in the house as a mitigating factor. Do I assume in this case nobody has air conditioning in said ancient Sicilian farm/farm labourers house (possibly built such that it naturally maintains a liveable temperature) and even during winter the temperature might be "maybe put a jumper on if you are feeling chilly" so it is even more of a farce?
I would not.
I'm sure there are similar projects to revitalize rural areas in your country as well, if you are tempted by the prospect, so that's a few fewer drawbacks. As long as you have reliable internet and the semblance of infrastructure you can work a ton of jobs from home.
Now as for the "there's fuck-all to do in the countryside other than repairs on your house 364 days out of the year" problem, well, that's the same everywhere. If that's not your cup of tea, I'd advise against it.
I'm sure there are similar projects to revitalize rural areas in your country as well, if you are tempted by the prospect, so that's a few fewer drawbacks. As long as you have reliable internet and the semblance of infrastructure you can work a ton of jobs from home.
Now as for the "there's fuck-all to do in the countryside other than repairs on your house 364 days out of the year" problem, well, that's the same everywhere. If that's not your cup of tea, I'd advise against it.
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