A California woman bought three abandoned houses in a small Italian town for $3.30 (approximately Rs 270) and is now spending her time renovating the properties, as per a report in the New York Post. Rubia Daniels, 49, became interested when she learned that the country was offering low-cost properties to repopulate deserted villages in remote areas. She bought the three abandoned houses in 2019.
Ms Daniels said she was "amazed" by the idea and wanted to check whether it is true. "I did my research, and within three days I had my plane ticket, a rental car, and the hotel, and I left," she told Insider.
The woman bought three empty properties for just $1.10 (Rs 90) each towards the end of a 10-day tour to Mussomeli, a small village in Sicily, in July 2019. The sale of the properties was verified by a representative of Case 1 Euro, the company in charge of the Mussomeli housing development.
She has different plans for each of the buildings she owns in Mussomeli. The first house, said Ms Daniels, will be used for residential purposes whenever she visits the town. She plans on converting the second into an art gallery so that she can "give back to the community" and intends to renovate the third property into a wellness centre, which is deemed her "biggest renovation". Although she started the repair work in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the deadline forward. At present, the outside work of the first two properties is almost completed.
This is not the first time a property has been bought for so low. In 2021, another town in Sicily known as Castiglione di Sicilia, was offering houses equivalent to a "price of a coffee", as per a report in CNN. The 900 abandoned homes were located in some of the oldest parts of the town.
The majority of the houses were ruined and were to be sold for a symbolic price of $1.20 (approx Rs 99). The others, which were in better shape, were going to be discounted, starting at 4,000 euros (Rs 3.5 lakh) to 5,000 (Rs 4.4 lakh). However, the new owners were required to finish the renovations within three years. As per the outlet, unlike the majority of other plans, there was no deposit required to ensure the completion of the work. Instead, the scheme demand that owners purchase 4,000 euros (Rs 3.5 lakh) insurance policy from a bank.
