We’ve all dreamed of owning a home on some far-away exotic island where they don’t speak English and life is the clichéd dolce vita. The town of Ollolai, a luscious green zone in the Barbagia region of Sardinia, are now selling abandoned homes for €1. Shocking but true. The internet has lit up from joyous dreamers who want to pack it in and live the la dolce vita, I mean who wouldn’t want a taste of this attainable dream, for only $1.52CAD you too can stop dreaming and make it a reality. But how…?
The reason behind the offer that just seems to good to be true is that Ollolai is slowly becoming a ghost town, like a lot of smaller towns at the interior of the island, and they hope to rejuvenate the area by bringing in new home buyers and their families. There is a catch – the homes are in poor condition and buyers must commit to refurbishing the home within a three-year time span. There’s always a catch.
Ollolai has been abandoned by families that chose to move closer to the city, where they can get access to life’s essentials much easier. The younger generation are opting for jobs in London, Rome, Milan and even as far as Australia, Canada and parts of the USA where they know they will be paid adequately, on time and with room to grow and expand their skills.
Three lucky people have already bought homes in this historical town and are about to discover a paradise they’ve only ever dreamed about, which is the reason for this post.
Once news hit that a small town in Italy was selling homes for €1 my inbox filled with messages from all over the world about “life in Sardinia.” In the past, I’ve written many posts on life in Sardinia, Italy, here are three: 8 things you should know before moving to Sardinia, Cost of Living Sardinia, Italy 2017, The Raw Reality of Expat Life in Small Town Sardinia.
And here’s a brief outline of things to consider before buying that home for €1:
- Do you speak Italian? You will need to have a basic understaning of the Italian language to get by with day-to-day activities. Remember – you’re re-building a home and will need to contact builders, plumbers, electricians, the local town hall, possibly a lawyer, a notary to notarize the billions of documents that will need to be signed, stamped and stamped again. Can you do this in Italian?
- English is not the first language and is not widely used. There are areas of the island where English thrives, but it’s for a few months during the summer when the hotels and beaches fill with tourists and it’s nowhere near Ollolai.
- Driving. Ollolai is in the beautiful middle of nowhere – are you licensed to drive?
- Are you ready to rejuvenate a ghost town?
- It’s expensive here, very. I still convert items to the Canadian dollar and am always left aghast.
- 1 euro = 1.52 CAD
If you can get over those small hurdles and prepare yourself for a beautiful, simple life, deep within the folds of Sardinia’s glorious mountains – then do it. Go for it. Sardinia will repay you ten times over with her beauty, charm and hospitality.
Happy House Hunting.
Useful info:
Comune di Ollolai, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy – site in Italian but you can find the application and modules that need completing. There is a link on their homepage about Case for 1 euro. That link seems to be broken as it takes me to an error page. Maybe all the house hunters have crashed the site.
