Because a property in Britain would have been too expensive for him, George Laing bought a house in Sicily… for just one euro, plus other costs. He is now renovating it and wants to help other people realise their dream of owning their own home.
The entrance to George Laing’s one-euro house in Mussomeli, Sicily, home to around 10,000 people.
Behind this door, which has since been sandblasted, …
… hides a bathroom emptied of its contents. On the ground floor, opposite….
…is this room.
Narrow is the key word for this one-euro house.
The marble staircase is a highlight for the new owner.
The hole in the roof above is one of the biggest problems.
In the upper part there are two rooms…
Briton buys house in Sicily for one euro
The entrance to George Laing’s one-euro house in Mussomeli, Sicily, home to around 10,000 people.
Behind this door, which has since been sandblasted, …
… hides a bathroom emptied of its contents. On the ground floor, opposite….
…is this room.
Narrow is the key word for this one-euro house.
The marble staircase is a highlight for the new owner.
The hole in the roof above is one of the biggest problems.
In the upper part there are two rooms…
George Laing is fed up with the price of real estate in Britain. The Eastbourne native lives in London, where he pays more than £1,000 in rent for his small apartment. Laing wants to buy a house, but he only has £5,000 in his bank account.
The Briton is therefore looking for a cheap alternative abroad. He first inquires about the situation in Bulgaria, before digitally stumbling upon the website 1 Euro Houses.
“In London, I had to spend more than 30% of my salary on rent,” the 30-year-old recalls in an interview with Euro News. “When I decided to invest in real estate, I didn’t even have the opportunity to save for the deposit.”
In Britain, he couldn’t even get money for a mortgage – and instead he ends up in Italy. “I don’t really have a connection with Sicily,” he admits. “I went there once when I was 14, on a school trip, and I remember almost nothing about it.”
“A woman shows you around town with a bunch of over 100 keys”
But because it was so important to him to own a home himself and there were “not many places” where this could be achieved for a small fee, he didn’t mind moving to Mussomeli. Buying a house for one euro in Italy is special, Laing continues.
“You show up that day, you’re with ten other people and a woman who shows you around town with a bunch of over 100 keys, and it’s a matter of luck as to which houses she wants to show you,” Laing says.
The Briton found a property in Mussomeli that interested him. “The roof hadn’t collapsed and it seemed to be in pretty good condition,” recalls the new Italian. “Plus, eleven is my lucky number – and that’s the house number.” Given the purchase price, he doesn’t want to be too picky either, he adds.
One euro becomes 5000 euros
But during the visit to the house, there is also an American who has already bought three houses in Italy and is looking for another investment opportunity. “I took him aside and asked him to leave me one. I had to reassure him.”
The American agrees – and the Briton gets the deal in April. But not exactly for one euro: the purchase price is supplemented by estate agent and lawyer fees as well as an energy certificate. In the end, the new house costs 5,000 euros.
And Laing gets more than he bargained for: “The most shocking thing is that there were a lifetime’s worth of possessions in this house, because the owner left unexpectedly.” The Briton does indeed find a well-preserved marble staircase, but also destroyed doors and cracks in the walls.
The former owner’s belongings are piling up
The new owner cannot afford to hire an expert to examine the cracks. But “the house has not moved in the last two or three centuries, so I think it will not in the near future either,” he says.
Since water and electricity are not connected at first, Laing is renovating without electrical appliances for the time being. “I stay in the house for two days. Then I get to the point where I desperately need a shower and I check into a hotel.” He has no experience with DIY: YouTube videos help him with the repairs.
The budget with which the house should one day be renovated is 15,000 euros. Initially, flights and hotel nights accounted for the majority of the costs. One of the conditions is that Laing renovates the façade within three years. This is also the earliest time to resell.
And Laing still has plenty of plans: over the next five years he hopes to buy ten houses. “People sometimes think you need hundreds of thousands to buy a property, but that’s not true.”
