A woman moved to Italy to enjoy a different pace of life and managed to get on the property ladder for the first time.
The mother-of-one benefitted from a scheme where homeowners can buy from as little as one euro.
Stephanie Synclair left her corporate career and booked a flight to the cheapest place she could find to start travelling.
She purchased a ticket to Sicily from her home in the United States.
She bought a home in Sicily
PA
Stephanie instantly fell in love with Italy and knew she wanted to spend more time there.
She said: “I knew from the moment I landed that I loved it here, and it was almost like home for me.”
Sicily is a stunning Meditterean island that is part of Italy.
It is home to beautiful beaches, impressive temples and warm temperatures.
It wasn’t just the friendly people and stunning views that attracted Stephanie, however.
She had tried to buy a property in her hometown of Atlanta when mortgage rates dropped, but rising house prices stopped her.
The houses she was looking at were selling for “upwards of $800,000” (£629,000), which was nearly double her budget.
After looking at properties in other countries, Stephanie learned about the one euro housing scheme in Mussomeli, Sicily.
This scheme allows people to buy a property in need of renovation for just one euro if they commit to doing it up.
The expat took advantage of an affordable home scheme
GETTY
Stephanie learned some of the homes were also available that needed less repairs and she soon found a three-bedroom 4,000-square-foot house.
Stephanie got this for 59,000 euros (£50,000) and budgeted around 20,000 euros (£17,000) for renovations.
“It was very important for me to keep the architectural details in this house, like the historic floors, and to not try to change the walls or the arches,” she told CNBC.
“This house is at least 500 years old that we know of. It was remodelled maybe 100 years ago, and the floors are at least 100 years old, and they’re still kicking.”
The one-euro scheme is one of many ways expats can get cheap property in Europe.
Calabria in Italy, Ponga in Spain and Albinen in the Swiss Alps will pay expats to move there.
