A municipality in Sicily is hoping to entice new residents with $2 homes

Buildings in Sicily.
(Image credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images)

In order to get new residents to take over historic homes in need of repair, the Sicilian municipality of Mussomeli is selling properties for just a few dollars each.

The goal is to attract people from all over the world who have the desire to live in Sicily and the means to renovate and maintain the homes. It's not as simple as plunking down $2 — buyers must have the homes fully renovated within three years of purchase, and fees and taxes tacked on to the minuscule selling price increase the final total to between $2,700 and $4,500, ABC 7 reports. Most don't have electricity, either, and air conditioning and other modern amenities would also have to be installed.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.