A rural northern Croatian town is selling abandoned houses for 16 cents.
The city of Legrad, situated next to Croatia’s border with Hungary, sold 17 of its 19 most abandoned and derelict homes at the discount price as of June 11.
“After some media reports about our action, we got enquiries about houses from very distant places like Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Argentina, or Colombia,” said Legrad Mayor Ivan Sabolic.
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New homeowners receive up to $4,000 from the local government for repairs and renovations of the dilapidated houses. Many homes have no windows or doors.
The city will also help with the cost of privately owned homes, covering 20% of the price with a maximum of $5,600.
Prospective buyers must be younger than 40 and financially stable to qualify for the bargain price. After buying the house, they need to stay in Legrad for at least 15 years.
Although the city’s program drew international interest, immigration laws in Croatia are difficult to navigate, so the government is focusing on local buyers, Sabolic said.
A century ago, Legrad was the second-biggest population center in Croatia. However, with the creation of new borders after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the city’s location became less desirable.
“We turned into a border town with few transport connections to other places. Since then, the population has been gradually falling,” Sabolic said.
Not counting the 17 new residents, the town is home to about 2,250 people, a decline from its population 50 years prior.
Legrad is not the first city in the world to offer homes at low prices.
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In 2019, the Sicilian town of Sambuca sold homes for $1.14. In May, multiple rural Japanese cities gave abandoned homes away for free.
