In Europe, it’s not uncommon for small towns and villages to sell off old, rundown properties for €1 in a bid to attract new people to the area.
However, what happens if you actually take up the offer?
Meredith Tabbone, a financial advisor from Chicago in the US, decided she was ready to take on the adventure of a lifetime and purchased an abandoned €1 house in Sambuca di Sicilia, a comune on the island of Sicily, with the goal of transforming it into a European escape.
Ms Tabbone said she discovered that Sambuca di Sicilia was selling off abandoned buildings for less than the price of a coffee back in 2019.
“CNN published an article about the program and my friend forwarded it to me,” Ms Tabbone told Love Property.
“I realised when reading the piece that the town holding the auction was the same one my great-grandfather was from.”
She said she found out about the silent auction that officials in Sambuca di Sicilia were holding and placed her bid.
“It was a very straightforward process,” she said.
“I submitted a €5,000 (AUD$8225) deposit to the bank that was listed on the auction site and sent in a one-page form via UPS, which had my name, bid amount and the property address.”
Her plan was to not only purchase one property, but multiple and convert them into one larger home.
“I purchased five properties in total but there are seven homes within those buildings,” she said.
“The most I spent on any of them was €35,000 (AUD$57,575).
“In total, the primary residence measures roughly 251sq m, excluding the garages.”
Fortunately, her father was architect and she was able to use her knowledge to come up with a plan to restore the buildings that had been built around the 1600s.
“I had a primary team of four; a quantity surveyor, an architect, a stone mason and an electrician,” she said.
“But in total I worked with about 20 different professionals throughout the five years of the project.”
Before the renovation, Meredith and her team did a walk-through of the entire property and established a general plan.
She communicated with the team via What’sApp, which wasn’t easy given the language barrier.
She said she didn’t face any unforeseen costs, however the process was challenging.
“We spent significantly more than we originally estimated, but that was because the project kept growing, not because something happened that was out of my control,” she said.
“I decided to make every single element of the home custom and that was a substantial investment, but well worth it in the end.
“I ended up spending around €475,000 (AUD$781,375) on the renovation.
“It was an extremely collaborative process and my team flawlessly executed my plan.”
The project took five years in total due to the scale of the renovation and Covid delays.
She now splits her time between Chicago and Italy, spending about four months a year in Sicily.
The main thing she learnt during the project is that when it comes to renovating, patience is key.
“Jump in and don’t wait for everything to be perfect or well-defined, or you will never get started,” she said.
“This is how we approached the renovation.
“Room by room, wall by wall, floor by floor, very carefully figuring out the pieces of the puzzle to make my home beautiful, comfortable and functional.”
