A town in Italy is currently looking to draw new visitors by selling abandoned houses for just $1.18.

The best thing about this is that they are real and they are being bought by people from all over the world.

The town of Salemi, which is located in Sicili, announced that they will be auctioning off a bunch of abandoned houses.

The price of the houses? They’re just over $1.

Mayor Domenico Venuti of the Salemi town said that the schemes that they are offering are part of an effort that will help them increase the dying population of the town.

They had to do this because over 4,000 people left the area after the 1968 earthquake.

During an interview with CNN, Mayor Venuti said:

All buildings belong to the City Council, which speeds up the sale and reduces red tape. Before launching the scheme we first had to recover the old parts of Salemi where the houses are located, upgrading infrastructures and services from roads to electric grids and sewage pipes. Now the town is ready for the next step.

Venuti said that the plan has been in the works for a bunch of years.

However, they had to stop for a bit because of issues, which include zoning complications and infrastructure.

Talking about the delay, he said:

It was a long process. Not only did we carry out thorough maintenance works to secure the risky crumbly areas, we also had to recover many properties to residential use. We’ve been ready for a while but wanted to wait and see how the COVID-19 emergency evolved.

The town of Sicily was one of the last impacted regions in the country during the coronavirus scare in Italy, which was an early hotspot for the deadly disease.

The mayor said that interested buyers will not be required to visit the town before purchasing a property in their city, however, they will be asked to submit a detailed renovation plan to prove that they are committed to the revitalization efforts that they have.

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