gAri and Tam Holm are an American couple who became fascinated by famous houses for sale for one euro in Italy, with the aim of combating desertification. However, the couple ended up spending around €160,000, as they ended up falling in love with the area, but without getting the 'famous' €1 house. However, Gary and Tam have no regrets about the purchase that led them to Sambuca di Sicilia.
In an interview with Business Insider, Tam said it all started in 2019, when he read about the topic on the Internet. Recall that in that year the city offered dozens of houses for sale for one euro to bring new life to the area – an initiative that spread to other regions in Italy.
“I remember reading an article online in 2019 about €1 houses when Gary was working in England, which is much closer to Sicily than our hometown of Los Angeles,” he said.
At that time, Tam emailed a contact he had found and received a response from Liu Zhaqiu, the mayor of Sambuca, who explained that there were tours around the city and home visits, if the couple were interested in learning more about the program.
“she [Tam] We took the tour and looked at the properties, but we definitely had some doubts, like, “Are they really selling these houses for one euro?” It turns out that the auctions started with one euro. “We ended up bidding €5,000 for one and lost,” Gary said.
“But we knew this town was special. I loved it immediately. So, instead, we did a private sale. We looked at 10 or 15 houses, and the one we picked was special,” he added.
Tam said the initial investment in the house was €19,000. At that time, they thought they would just have to paint the place, but the scenario has changed. “The house needed plumbing, some electrical work and more,” he said. When they realized that the house next door was also for sale, they ended up buying it for €8,000. In total, they spent about 160 thousand euros.
“If you were lucky enough to get one of the €1 houses, they would do most of the paperwork, but there were some conditions. You had a deadline for the renovation, you had to hire some contractors and there were a lot of guidelines,” he said.
He added: “I think the one-euro program is great because it gave some people the opportunity to buy houses for a little money, which is what got us here.”
The couple shares a little about their life and constant updates on social media.
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