A charming village in Italy is offering Americans the chance to own a home for just $1 to rejuvenate the community.
The picturesque mountain town of Ollolai, located on the island of Sardinia, has long been trying to convince outsiders to move after decades of depopulation.
But after the most recent US presidential election, the rural town has done its best to attract and even prioritize Americans, as many have tried to leave after Trump’s victory.
“Are you exhausted by world politics?” asks the city’s ‘bring life back’ campaign website.
‘Do you want to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities? It’s time to start building your European escape in the breathtaking paradise of Sardinia.’
After the Nov. 5 election, Google searches for “moving to Canada” rose 1,270 percent, while similar searches about moving to New Zealand rose nearly 2,000 percent, while those to Australia rose 820 percent, company data shows.
The ‘bring life back’ campaign was created to appeal to American expats, according to Ollolai Mayor Fransisco Columbu. As campaign listings struggled to get off the ground, empty homes were marketed to first-time buyers for as little as $1 – $1.05 USD.
“We have now created this website specifically to meet America’s post-election resettlement needs. The first edition of our digital nomad program launched last year was already exclusively for Americans,” Columbu shared CNN.
The picturesque mountain town of Ollolai, located on the island of Sardinia, has long been trying to convince outsiders to move after decades of depopulation
The charming village offers Americans the chance to own a home for as little as $1 to rejuvenate the community and attract new life
Ollolai has previously tried to lure new residents with housing programs as the population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,100 over the past century, with only a handful of babies born each year.
The city hall website was recently flooded with 38,000 requests for housing information, mostly from the U.S., Columbu said.
Columbu added that he “loves the United States” and is “convinced that Americans are the best people to revitalize his community.”
The campaign offers accommodation on three levels: free temporary homes for select digital nomads, one-euro homes in need of renovation, and turnkey homes priced up to $105,000.
Columbu says he has set up a special team to guide interested buyers through every step of the purchase, from arranging tours of available homes to finding contractors and builders and navigating the necessary paperwork.
He also said photos and floor plans of available vacant properties will be uploaded on the website soon.
Ollolai has previously tried to lure new residents with housing programs as the population has shrunk from 2,250 to 1,100 over the past century, with only a handful of babies born each year.
Many families have also left the village during tough economic times in search of work and a better life, CNN reports.
The ‘bring life back’ campaign was created to appeal to American expats, Ollolai Mayor Fransisco Columbu said, as the campaign offers dilapidated, vacant homes to buyers from as little as one euro – just over one dollar .
The revival plans are not going as well as local authorities had hoped. Only ten homes have been sold and renovated since 2018, according to the village’s mayor, Fransisco Columbu.
From 2018, the town hall started selling vacant, demolished homes before re-renting vacant spaces for just one euro.
Early last year, City Hall launched a “Work of Ollolai” program for digital nomads, but so far it has only hosted four Americans.
As part of the programme, the town hall will pay the rent on local families’ homes for those working from home, paying around €350 per month for multi-storey, two-bedroom properties. Utilities, bills and municipal taxes are also covered.
But the revival plans are not going as well as local authorities had hoped. Only ten homes have been sold and renovated since 2018, Columbu said.
‘The village remains half empty, we still have about 100 vacant cheap houses for sale, ready to move into. We have mapped them all out and listed them, and soon there will be photos online for buyers to look at.”