A home in Sicily for less than the price of an espresso…
It’s the kind of offer that makes headlines around the world. And back in 2013, it brought me to the hill town of Gangi to investigate.
Gangi was among the first towns in Sicily to offer abandoned homes for a nominal €1. The aim was to attract buyers who would restore the properties and breathe new life into the community.
It was a brilliant marketing idea. Soon, buyers were arriving from overseas, and towns across Sicily and mainland Italy were launching schemes of their own.
But I’ve always been interested in what comes after the headlines…
Years later, what became of those abandoned homes—and the people who took them on?
My scout Ciaran Madden just had boots on the ground in Sicily…
He spent more than a week scouting towns across the west and south of the island. And he uncovered some incredible opportunities, from move-in-ready historic homes starting at €34,000 to properties in UNESCO World Heritage towns with the potential for almost 10% gross rental yields.
Members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group have received his full scouting report, complete with listings, maps and photos.
Along the way, Ciaran visited one of Sicily’s €1 home towns, Sambuca di Sicilia, and met a British couple there who’d taken the plunge.
He shares their story below…
The €1 Home Pioneers of Sambuca di Sicilia
By Ciaran Madden
I heard my name before I saw them.
It was early evening in Sambuca di Sicilia, and I was making my way down a side street off the main avenue when someone called out, “Ciaran!”
I looked up. At the very top of a tall stone townhouse, Sarah and Andrew Bentley were leaning over their balcony, waving me up.
I’d spent the earlier part of the day exploring the town on foot. Sambuca sits in the hills of southwestern Sicily, inland from the coastal town of Sciacca. It’s a place of honey-colored stone, quiet piazzas, and narrow lanes that wind through its old Arab quarter.
As I walked its lanes and alleys, it was immediately clear something was happening here. Sambuca didn’t have the faded, half-empty feel of so many Sicilian hill towns.
Homes had been restored, façades refreshed, piazzas brought back to life. There were cafés and banks, B&Bs and real estate agencies. The town looked cared for, lived in. Of all the Sicilian hill towns I’ve scouted, it ranks among the most charming.
People like Sarah and Andrew are a big part of the reason why.
This British couple were pioneers. They bought a €1 home in Sambuca in 2019, at the very start of the town’s scheme.
Why Sambuca? Sarah admits, with a laugh, that part of the appeal was the name. She’s partial to a glass of the liqueur. But they were also looking for a change of scenery.
Buying one of these homes was less straightforward than the €1 price tag suggests. In Sambuca’s scheme, €1 was the starting price. Buyers submitted bids, and the highest bidder won.
Sarah and Andrew left it to chance. They combined their birthdays into a low four-digit number and bid that. It was the second-highest bid. Then fate intervened. The top bidder dropped out, and the house was theirs.
The renovation was supposed to take months. Then COVID struck. Lockdowns and disruptions stretched out the project for years. But they persevered. They figure theirs is the third €1 home in Sambuca to be fully renovated.
The result is stunning…
When I arrived at their home, Sarah and Andrew quickly led me out onto the large balcony off the kitchen. Initially, I struggled to follow what they were telling me. I kept getting distracted by the views, unbroken out to a nearby lake and the tanned, rolling hills beyond.
Just over the hills, the sun was beginning to set. The color was extraordinary. A molten orange. The only sunset I’ve seen to rival it was over the Sea of Cortez off La Paz in Baja California.
Over glasses of their homemade limoncello (which they really should be bottling and selling), they told me about the renovation. How the large balcony had been hidden when they bought the place. How the roof had to be raised. How Sarah had wanted and gotten a free-standing bathtub—a complete novelty for the local builders.
We also talked about how much Sambuca has changed since they arrived. The new plaza at the top of the town, the refurbished public spaces, the new cafés and restaurants.
Sarah and Andrew are starting a new chapter. They want to travel more, but they’re not leaving Sambuca behind. Two years ago, they bought a country home just outside town, which will be their new base.
They’ve put their €1 home on the market. It’s a spacious, 1,400-square-foot, one-bedroom home, with that balcony and those sensational views. It’s listed for €120,000.
Here Ronan introduces a walkthrough I shot…
A tour of the €1 home Sarah and Andrew bought and renovated in Sambuca di Sicilia. It’s now on the market for €120,000. Click to take a look inside.
If you’ve ever wondered whether €1 homes are legit, Sarah and Andrew’s story provides a clear example.
It took capital, hard work, and serious resilience. But these kinds of projects can be done. The home they’ve created is a true achievement.
Ronan says: This is one of the things I find so exciting about Sicily today…
The first wave of foreign buyers came to towns like Sambuca, Gangi, Salemi and Mussomeli years ago. They took on abandoned properties, dealt with the headaches of renovation and helped bring these historic communities back to life.
Now, as some of these early buyers move on, their renovated homes are coming back onto the market.
And that’s a whole different opportunity from buying a €1 home.
You can own a finished historic property, in a Sicilian town that’s already attracting new people and investment—without having to spend years overseeing a renovation. And because there’s still a big supply of homes in these towns, prices remain hugely affordable.
That’s why I believe the opportunity in Sicily is better today than when I first started scouting it in 2013. And it’s why I asked Ciaran to return to Sicily.
And as Sarah and Andrew discovered, the reward can be much more than a beautifully restored home. It can be a whole new life.
Wishing you a good real estate investing,
