A rural town in Sardinia, Italy is offering $1 homes to Americans.
Ollolai, a village on the Italian island of Sardinia, is offering $1 homes and several other schemes to attract American expats.
The rural Italian village has been selling dilapidated houses for as little as one euro since 2018, and after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, it launched a website offering up even more cheap homes.
"Are you worned [worn] out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities," the website states. "It's time to start building your European escape in the stunning paradise of Sardinia."
Ollolai's mayor, Francesco Columbu, told CNN the website was created to lure Americans after the 2024 presidential elections.
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"Of course, we can't specifically mention the name of one U.S. president who just got elected, but we all know that he's the one from whom many Americans want to get away from now and leave the country," Columbo said.
"We have specifically created this website now to meet U.S. post-elections relocation needs. The first edition of our digital nomad scheme, which launched last year, was already solely for Americans," he added.
Columbu said he is a big fan of the United States and thinks Americans are the best people to help revive Ollolai's community.
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"We just really want, and will focus on, Americans above all. We can't of course ban people from other countries to apply, but Americans will have a fast-track procedure," he tells CNN. "We are betting on them to help us revive the village, they are our winning card."
The mayor said the village is offering three levels of accommodations:
- Free temporary homes to certain digital nomads
- One-euro homes in need of renovations
- Ready-to-occupy houses for up to 100,000 euros or about $106,000.
Photos and plans of the available properties will be uploaded to the website soon, CNN reports.
Since launching the website, the mayor says they have received over 35,000 requests for more information on the houses, most of which were from the U.S.
Columbu said that since the scheme originally launched in 2018, they have sold 10 homes and have about 100 unoccupied cheap homes on sale and ready-to-move-in ones.
Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.05 USD on November 20, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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