You buy a house for €1 in a charming stone village in Tuscany, start living a slow and peaceful life, and all your problems just disappear… But is that really how it works?
My name is Jacopo Tartaglia, co-founder of Valente Italian Properties and to tell you what it really means to buy a €1 house in Italy, I decided not just to explain it—but to actually try to buy one myself (and spoiler: it’s far from easy).
This is just the first article of a series to tell you this story.
Why would anyone sell their house for €1 in Italy?
These €1 homes are often found in remote, nearly abandoned towns. And if people have left… well, there’s usually a reason!
These places often face serious challenges:
- Lack of services: no hospitals, schools, or supermarkets.
- Poor infrastructure: hard to reach, often no decent internet connection.
- Far from major cities.
Still, they can appeal to those dreaming of a quiet life in a tiny Italian village, far from the chaos of modern living.
I did a bit of online research and found a town in Calabria that has an active €1 home program. It’s called Gasperina, and from the aerial photos, it looks like it has a stunning sea view.
On the website I found a telephone number and surprisingly I managed to talk to the Mayor of the town. He explained a bit more about the process and the available houses.
He was really gentle, but for further information he suggested to talk to the surveyor of the municipality.
What kind of properties are sold for €1?
Here’s the catch: the homes sold for €1 are usually in terrible shape—crumbling, abandoned ruins with no roof or floors.
So I was really curious to see what kinds of properties are available in Gasperina. You can take a look too at this link.
Anyway, If you buy a €1 house, you’re committing to:
- Submitting a renovation and restoration plan within a specific period (usually within one year of purchase).
- Covering all notary, registration, and transfer fees. The property may also have serious code violations you’ll have to deal with.
- Starting the renovation work within the required timeframe once all permits are in place.
To ensure buyers actually follow through, the town usually requires a security deposit bond, typically between €1,000 and €5,000, refundable upon project completion (generally within 3 years).
So no—it’s not exactly a walk in the park, and it may not even be a smart financial move.
Is buying a €1 house actually worth it?
To answer that, we need a proper cost-benefit analysis.
I need to understand the current market values of homes in Gasperina, and estimate the potential value of these €1 properties after renovation.
Because just paying €1 doesn’t mean you’re getting a deal.
Let’s take one of these houses as an example.
I need to calculate:
- What it’ll be worth after renovations.
- How much it could generate in rental income—short-, mid-, or long-term, depending on the strategy.
To do that, I’ll use this spreadsheets
The risk? Even if you buy the home for just €1, all the extra costs might add up to more than the house will ever be worth.
In that case, it wouldn’t be a good investment—because if you ever need to sell, you could lose money.
At the same time, I have to evaluate the potential return from renting the property short-, medium-, or long-term.
If the return is lower than other investment opportunities—like financial markets—it might make more sense to invest elsewhere.
Let’s do a real example:
If the house yields between 3% and 5%, I might be better off buying bonds or ETFs and getting the same return—with way less hassle and risk.
Another key factor will be bank leverage, but we’ll dig into that in a dedicated video.
Italian banks may offer mortgages to non-residents, especially when the property has clear documentation and is in a desirable location. With proper support and guidance, leveraging a mortgage can make the buying process more accessible and financially strategic—particularly when renovation is involved, as funds can be allocated more flexibly.
In short, bank leverage allows the buyer to enter the Italian real estate market without tying up all their capital, while also increasing their purchasing power and making room for potential value-adding improvements.
Also, using less money out of your pocket could increase your return on investment.
The problem is, I still need more details—like the size and layout of the property—to make a proper, accurate financial projection.
So I’m emailing the town’s building technician right now and in the next article I will continue this story.
