Saw this article and had to share. There IS a catch: (isn't there always?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7596341.stm

Wonder how much earthquake bolts cost?

And what are the chances of organising the restoration work without finding horses' heads in your bed?

My thoughts when I first read this article were that if nobody else wants to live there................

Does anyone know what the name of the town is?

See, I'm just crazy enough to contemplate this - especially if I could do it with a small group of people who would pool resources and work effort....

StCirq
I believe this is your answer.

Mr Sgarbi initially offered the houses free of charge, to residents of Salemi...

Thanks, ic...must be reading too quickly....

Welcome StCirq.

I just won't ask you what is in your sandwich today if you buy a house there.

ic: People said I was out of my mind 17 years ago to buy a house in France. I'm interested in these types of risks.....way better than Wall Street, IMHO

That's not to say I'd do anything entirely rash...

StC: Sounds like, at the very least, it's a good excuse to take a trip to Salemi just for a look-see.

But. But.

I heard this hot tip about a bank called WaMu.

Well, any bank that chooses to be known by something that sounds like a baby crying should have been an obvious risk...

I didn't read go to that link (so not sire if it mentions it)...but seen the offer in a couple of articles lately...the catch is that you have to spend 100k euros (!!!) on renovation....that is a very high renovation cost really...there are many villages in So.Italy and Sicily where you can still buy a home that doesn't need a total renovation for 100k ;-)

Could be a neat GTG!

Maybe we could convince Pierre Cardin to buy up real estate there. Give the folks in Lacoste a little break!