The Picturesque Italian Town of Sambuca, Sicily Is Selling Homes for $1

If you want to impress your friends, take them to the swanky new bar in town and order a round of flaming sambuca shots, which are made from Italian anise-flavored liqueur. If you want to impress them even more, tell them you just bought a home in Sambuca, an old Italian town on the Mediterranean island of Sicily.

A little extreme? Maybe. But with homes selling there for as little as €1 (roughly $1.14), you can't beat the price. As The Guardian reports, dozens of homes in Sambuca are currently on the market "for less than the price of a takeaway coffee" as local officials attempt to lure newcomers to the hilltop town. Over the years, many of Sambuca's residents have moved to bigger cities, leaving their former homes deserted.

Sambuca was founded by the ancient Greeks but was later conquered by Arab groups, which explains the blend of Moorish and Baroque influences that can be seen in the town's architecture. City hall owns the homes that are currently up for sale, and locals officials have been singing the town's praises in hopes of wooing buyers.

"Sambuca is known as the City of Splendor," Giuseppe Cacioppo, Sambuca's deputy mayor and tourist councilor, tells CNN. "This fertile patch of land is dubbed the Earthly Paradise. We're located inside a natural reserve, packed with history. Gorgeous beaches, woods, and mountains surround us. It's silent and peaceful, an idyllic retreat for a detox stay."

(Lowercase sambuca, by the way, originated in the Italian port Civitavecchia, not far from Rome. However, Sambuca is home to many wineries.)

Officials say buyers will be able to move in quickly, but as always, there's a catch. Some of the homes are "badly in need of a makeover," Cacioppo says, and buyers will have three years to devote at least $17,000 to home repairs. They will also need to fork over nearly $5700 for a security deposit, which will be returned once the work is complete.

If this still sounds like a good deal to you, email case1euro@comune.sambucadisicilia.ag.it for additional details.

[h/t The Guardian]