The Molise Region In Italy Will Pay You $765 Per Month To Live There, Under Certain Conditions

A region in Italy is offering generous sums of money to move to some its underpopulated towns, even going so far as to offer to kick in tens of thousands of dollars for moving costs. However, there are several strings attached, and international immigration is rarely easy, so don’t put your own house up for sale just yet.

Rural Italy has a lot to offer, from rolling hills, stunning mountain vistas, quiet countrysides, plus the famed Italian food and wine, which, if you live in a rural region, could well be sourced just a few miles from you. Unfortunately, as Insider reports, many rural Italian towns are having a hard time sustaining their populations, thanks to people leaving town for better opportunities in the city, and for birth rates drying up all over Italy in general, among other reasons.

In order to keep their towns from becoming ghost towns, the government of the Molise region is putting together attractive packages to bring in new blood. The details vary from place to place, but in general, it works like this: some towns will offer a generous moving package, as much as €25,000 ($27,500) to move there. Once you’re there, you’ll be paid €700 ($765) per months, for three years, to live there.

Of course, as the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In this case, the offer is real, but there are so many strings attached that it may not be worth the effort.

You’ll have to move to a town or village with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, according to MSN. You’ll have to open up a business within three years, and it has to be a business that benefits the community, such as a restaurant or bakery. And of course, learning Italian is definitely advised. And then there’s the Italian government’s immigration paperwork that you’ll have to wade through.

Other Italian towns have gone to similar lengths to attract new blood. For example, as reported earlier this year by The Inquisitr, the town of Zungoli is offering houses for sale for $1 in order to get new people to move into town.

As is the case with Molise, however, there are strings attached. You’ll have to learn Italian just to navigate the website. The house you buy will almost certainly be small by American standards, on the order of 550-1,000 square feet. And it will almost certainly be a fixer-upper. In addition, you’ll be expected to put down about €2,000 ($2,248) towards repairs.