“John: I feel so optimistic. How do you feel?
Charlie: I’m fine.
John: Fine? You know what “fine” stands for, don’t you?
Charlie: Yeah, unfortunately.
John: Freaked out…
Charlie: Insecure…
John: Neurotic…
Charlie: And Emotional.
John: You see those columns behind you?
Charlie: What about them?
John: That’s where they used to string up thieves who felt fine.
Charlie: After you.”
~ The Italian Job
Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
Italy’s re-population and restoration program has been popularized by online news sites for several years now.
So you may know…
For example, only a few years ago, you could buy a sanguine mountain home in northern Italy for only $12,000 USD.
Granted you would have some fixing up to do, but for the most part, you’d be looking at fairly low cost housing.
In exchange, you get a simple life in a small community filling the gap farmers and shepherds left for the big city.
If you have the skills, and the occupational means to take up residence…
One of those homes are a steal!
Now, the Italian Job is headed for the homeland.
Baltimore wants to sell abandoned homes for $1 USD.
Bloomberg reports:
Baltimore Wants to Sell Hundreds of Vacant Homes for $1 Each
“Baltimore plans to sell boarded-up houses for $1 each in an attempt to revive neighborhoods that have been plagued by crime and disrepair.
The program backed by Mayor Brandon Scott will offer more than 200 city-owned vacant properties to residents who commit to repairing and living in them. A city board approved the measure on Wednesday.
Vacant homes are a decades-long problem in the Maryland city, which has one of the highest crime rates in the US concentrated within a few high-poverty neighborhoods. The measure evokes Baltimore’s “dollar house” program from the 1970s, which offered properties for a buck to homesteaders if they fixed them up…
…While the housing program targets a few hundred homes, there were close to 15,000 abandoned properties across Baltimore as of 2022, according to the city. More properties may eventually be included.”
Boomers Will Sell 9 Million Homes by 2035 — 7 States With the Best Bargains
“There will be 9.2 million fewer boomer homeowner households by 2035, according to a recent Freddie Mac analysis. Given that the housing market is facing a shortage of available single-family homes, the housing decisions this cohort will make in the coming years may have a significant impact…
…Jones said that on average, roughly 22.5% of households in the U.S. are occupied by homeowners aged 65 and older.
In comparison, in West Virginia, it’s 28.7%; in Delaware, it’s 27%; in South Carolina, it’s 26.1%; and in Maine, it’s 25.9%.”
Florida and rural New York are also on their list.
So if you’re younger, or you want to scoop up some rental properties for your portfolio, or you want to buy up some properties to hedge against inflation… these might be some places to look for a steal of deal.
