# tiny homes for sale in s. italy for crazy prices



## kwrheault

Hey,

I just happened to be checking out hovel priced property in S. Italy on the internet and I found a slew of € 20 000 - € 60 000 properties in small towns . The price supposedly includes all renovations and furnishing for the price listed and the notery fee. It's suppose to stimulate the tourist industry in the towns and entice local artisans (plumbers, carpenters..etc) into remaining in the area and not migrating to N italy. Does anyone have feed back on this ...is it for real or a real scam. thanks


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## NickZ

You don't say where. You don't say how big.

You can easily buy places for 30k or more that are easily in move in condition. 

Italians have tended to move out of the smallest towns for various reasons. They've also moved out of the rural farmhouses. They also like new build to a certain extent. They also don't want the really tiny places. 

So if you're willing to live a bit away from the bigger cities it's possible.


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## kwrheault

NickZ said:


> You don't say where. You don't say how big.
> 
> You can easily buy places for 30k or more that are easily in move in condition.
> 
> Italians have tended to move out of the smallest towns for various reasons. They've also moved out of the rural farmhouses. They also like new build to a certain extent. They also don't want the really tiny places.
> 
> So if you're willing to live a bit away from the bigger cities it's possible.



Hi,
sorry, I found the property on sun shine estates dot net. this site would not allow me to post with a URL in the post. As for the location...you simply put the upper limit at € 50 000 and they come up. Thanks


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## NickZ

I wouldn't trust a random website. 

It's a big country. You'll find things from the top to the bottom in that price range. I've seen 1 bedroom apartments less then 1km from the beach for 50K asking prices. Recent builds etc.

If you intend to live in it and never sell it that's fine. But the reason the prices are so low is resale is very hard for the small places.


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## kwrheault

NickZ said:


> I wouldn't trust a random website.
> 
> It's a big country. You'll find things from the top to the bottom in that price range. I've seen 1 bedroom apartments less then 1km from the beach for 50K asking prices. Recent builds etc.
> 
> If you intend to live in it and never sell it that's fine. But the reason the prices are so low is resale is very hard for the small places.



It's actually called a sustainability project. They take small abandon homes and remodel them and include a furniture kit in the price. The home owner only needs to deal with restoring the facade of the building...I found these in Southern italy. They are all supposed to be close to regional airports and train transportation. They are shown once a month and according to the information they will increase the program next year to add commercial property and villas. I emailed two web sites that were advertising the program and will get back with additional info if anyone is interested. thanks for your input.


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## NickZ

Like I said you're getting cheap because nobody wants them.

I'd be really careful with claims about airports and trains. Airlines drop routes anytime they feel like. Trains aren't much better. 

If you ever want to sell you'll find the average Italian has no interest. So buy with the intention to keep forever.


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## kwrheault

NickZ said:


> Like I said you're getting cheap because nobody wants them.
> 
> I'd be really careful with claims about airports and trains. Airlines drop routes anytime they feel like. Trains aren't much better.
> 
> If you ever want to sell you'll find the average Italian has no interest. So buy with the intention to keep forever.


Yes.you're right of course. It's useful to anyone who already knows and loves the small villages south of Rome...and tries to vacation there as often as possible and would benefit from inexpensive accomodations it could only be sold to like minded individuals, which iIthink is the whole idea behind the project. It's to generate tourism to economically flagging villages that are losing their young people due to a lack of job security. Thanks for the input. I'm sure anyone reading this who may be planning to look at similar properties not only in Italy but else where in the EU will value the wisdom.


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## pugwashington

*Small Houses in Italy*



kwrheault said:


> Hey,
> 
> I just happened to be checking out hovel priced property in S. Italy on the internet and I found a slew of € 20 000 - € 60 000 properties in small towns . The price supposedly includes all renovations and furnishing for the price listed and the notery fee. It's suppose to stimulate the tourist industry in the towns and entice local artisans (plumbers, carpenters..etc) into remaining in the area and not migrating to N italy. Does anyone have feed back on this ...is it for real or a real scam. thanks


Yes these are for real - I visited a couple when I was looking for my hovel. Good idea if you dont want the bother of doing it all yourself. But remember the price originally may have been a lot lower if you wanted to do it yourself. Also remember that all of Italy is an earthquake zone and that these houses even after the renovation you get at that price will not be very safe in a quake. 

To be safe you need to have a kind of metal ring put around the roof - maybe pins across the house and perhaps the walls taken back to original stone and mesh put in place and possably have the floors taken up and meshed too. All depends on the type of construction, size of construction and height. Again you have to consider the state of any properties above or below and next to your house. A lesson we have all learned the hard way in abruzzo. I would say insist on having earthquake safety renovation done as part of any deal - especially the ring in the roof.

Good Luck


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## kwrheault

pugwashington said:


> Yes these are for real - I visited a couple when I was looking for my hovel. Good idea if you dont want the bother of doing it all yourself. But remember the price originally may have been a lot lower if you wanted to do it yourself. Also remember that all of Italy is an earthquake zone and that these houses even after the renovation you get at that price will not be very safe in a quake.
> 
> To be safe you need to have a kind of metal ring put around the roof - maybe pins across the house and perhaps the walls taken back to original stone and mesh put in place and possably have the floors taken up and meshed too. All depends on the type of construction, size of construction and height. Again you have to consider the state of any properties above or below and next to your house. A lesson we have all learned the hard way in abruzzo. I would say insist on having earthquake safety renovation done as part of any deal - especially the ring in the roof.
> 
> Good Luck


Thanks so much I had done a ton of research on the company and drinking water etc ad nauseum but had not considered the earthquake factor. I printed up all the info for a friend at work who would love to move to italy and the company goes so far as to buddy buyers up with a host family in the village...they try to find someone with like interests. If anyone is interested it* tricali* at *co.uk.*


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## pugwashington

kwrheault said:


> Thanks so much I had done a ton of research on the company and drinking water etc ad nauseum but had not considered the earthquake factor. I printed up all the info for a friend at work who would love to move to italy and the company goes so far as to buddy buyers up with a host family in the village...they try to find someone with like interests. If anyone is interested it* tricali* at *co.uk.*


We had a look at some of tricali houses - they had a lot of houses in Focca which was destroyed in the quake. Nice friendly people - we didn't buy because in the end we found a house we wanted to live in eventually - so it was a much cheaper option to buy from owner.


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## flawed

pugwashington said:


> We had a look at some of tricali houses - they had a lot of houses in Focca which was destroyed in the quake. Nice friendly people - we didn't buy because in the end we found a house we wanted to live in eventually - so it was a much cheaper option to buy from owner.


http://www.eachpropertymed.co.uk/am, 


Hi Pam, 

Yes we looked at those properties too. We abandoned the tour as we went to Villa st Lucia and the company had bought a large house with garden and were chopping it into about 7 small boltholes.They were even building in the garden where there was a chookshed and in the windowless cellar!

Depends what you want. I guess it is a cheap hassle free entry, but there is better value to be had if you hunt around yourself. The quality of the renovation was a bit ordinary too. 

We bought through Houses around Italy, their reputation is varied, but their website is easy to get around. Beware property in earthquake area Abruzzo. some places look perfect but there are uninhabitable because a neighbouring property is damaged. 

Good luck, Lynda


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## italy

the civil protection group in Italy publish a complete list of all the comunes in Italy with their seismic risk rating


i would say this is an essential piece of research to carry out in regards to any property purchase in this country as both agents and even comunes do not give any clear information

the list is based on historical data and current fault lines 

for instance in Abruzzo the vast majority of comunes in the province of L'Aquila are rated zone 1 (at the highest risk) and require massive intervention to make them safe

as a consequence of the L'Aquila quake many people are sadly aware of what the reality of even a not significant earth movement in Italy does mean, the actual quake compared to many areas in the world was not big, and in many areas would have caused little to no loss of life let alone property

more worryingly is the fact that the trend now to still choose Abruzzo but the safe side of the Appenines is not entirely being sold in an honest sense

Chieti as a province also has many zone 1 seismic areas along with pescara province and a browse through some of the more popular property web sites will show that foreign buyers are being targeted with those comunes that have a very real risk of being destroyed once more as they are in zone 1 areas, many of these places were destroyed in the 1930s quakes there

so take note, research the database on the civil protection website if you want to get to the truth why many places are being sold cheaply as against others, basically because Italians do not buy there

the only province in Abruzzo with no seismic 1 ratings is Teramo

however if you go outside Abruzzo over the rest of Italy you will be able to find lots of information as to safer areas and i would always choose an area without the sesimic risks .. i would suggest correlations between cheapness and zone 1 will appear quite often in your research

the rest will be up to you to decide


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## NickZ

italy said:


> the only province in Abruzzo with no seismic 1 ratings is Teramo
> 
> however if you go outside Abruzzo over the rest of Italy you will be able to find lots of information as to safer areas and i would always choose an area without the sesimic risks .. i would suggest correlations between cheapness and zone 1 will appear quite often in your research


You don't tend to buy the whole province when you buy a house. Teramo suffered damage IIRC in the Umbria earthquake that happened in the late 1990s. I think you'll be hard pressed to find an area that isn't at some risk. Most of the coastal/hill areas are lower risk.

I mentioned this early the thread. Most of the cheap areas are cheap because Italians don't want to live there. Most Italians are more or less used to quakes. So quakes are less of an issue then all the other issues. I'm not saying to ignore quakes but you are even more likely to have any of the other problems. Landslides happen far more often and can do serious damage. Plus the minor stuff like traffic.


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## Jane54

*Tricali homes*

We were one of the first buyers for Tricali in Irsina in 2007. Best thing we have ever done. We holiday there 6 or so weeks each year. 

There are about 60 expat families now in and I would say that 90% are very happy with the deal. The few that are not simply expect too much for their money. You get a unique home in holiday home condition, it is then up to you to decide how fancy you want to make it. 

Don't worry about the small size as the reality is that once in Italy you are outside most of the time anyway. 

The other challenge is that you have to have faith and trust and some people are better at this than others. You had over your money for a dump and 6 months later you get the finished house back. As I said you have to keep the faith. 

Irsina is magical and the locals are so welcoming. Come and visit us this summer.


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## rabarbaro

*I'm italian....*

living in Italy...
first of all not everywhere there are problems with earthquake...
second...prices in italy are not that cheap unless you buy a group of stones in the middle of nowhere...with no water, no electricity and no gas....
Even in the lost villages you pay at least 70/80 thousand euro for something you can live in....
If you tell me which area would you like I can give you more informations...
I'm not an agent...I 've bought a couple of houses and restored them..and believe me...it's a real headache !! And in the end you would pay much much more than forecasted....
Anyway, it's a fantastic country !!


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