How to apply... How to go about getting your €1 house

[HUGO]

David,

I just happened to read your reply when I responded to Manning's thread. How can you state that there are likely to be more than 3,000 houses for sale when Salemi Council itself hasn't got a figure yet? In fact, elsewhere on this Forum you seem to have recognised this problem:

'1. The Salemi council is still mapping the 1 euro houses. 40 years ago after the earthquake, the council assisted the residents to build new houses away from the hilltop town of Salemi and in exchange took “ownership” of the ruined houses. Not all the title deeds of the ruined houses were transferred into the name of the council. Now Sgarbi and his team are documenting officially some of these houses in the name of the council so they can be part of the 1 Euro offer. This procedure should be concluded by the month of December.
2. The 1 euro houses as council property are also “public” property and that the council may not under current legislation “sell” the house for 1 Euro. There is an Italian law that states the properties should be offered in a form of public auction. Sgarbi is currently working with his lawyers and the Italian state to make the offer of the 1 euro house a reality. Council members believe this should be resolved by December.
3. Once the above 2 principle issues are resolved the council will announce the application and allocation procedures.
4. The initial offer of 3000 “villas” are in fact 3000 units of property, some very small. MIPC understand that the council plans to amalgamate some of these units and foresees that the actual number of houses will now be 1000.
5. With no “official” map of the available units, some of MIPC clients were a little disappointed that they could not actually choose a property. MIPC showed them the areas of the town of Salemi, which will probably be the 1 euro houses, but until the official map is published, the exact house plots cannot be identified, though even without the official map it is quite apparent which houses will be included in the offer.'

Be impartial for a moment and agree that the above findings are an administrative nightmare!

a) Not all titles were transferred to Salemi Council. What percentage would that be? 10% or 90%. Nobody actually knows ;

b) No official map and thus ensuing uncertainly;

c) You suggest that once the 3,000 units have been amalgamated by Salemi Council, there will only be about 1,000 houses available for sale (auction).

So, how can you come up with a figure of 3,000 plus?

[mipc]

I have an update meeting with the council this week in Salemi.
I will be posting an update after the weekend. MIPC.

[haal group]

WHAT DID THEY SAY AT THE COUNCIL MEETING ?

IS THE LAND GOING TO BE SOLD AT AN AUCTION ?

[mipc]

Haal Group.
Thanks for your query. MIPC Premium members first will recieve an update of my meeting, then this will be posted to the forum. Please be patient till after the weekend. MIPC.

[ffitzjerald]

Dear David, MIPC Users etc

I was, as all of You, amazed by this opportunity to participate in Salemi restoration program. I've discovered about it in Guardian, if I remember properly.
After some research over the Internet, I've been able to find these resources:

http://www.comune.salemi.tp.it/
http://www.vittoriosgarbi.it/
http://www.myspace.com/vittoriosgarbi

I was able to find enough information to see that the project is in early stages of development, and, moreover received a confirmation that I will be notified (if registered at viitoriosgarbi.it). I was totally happy with that.

However recently I've discovered MIPC - establishing themselves as a single source of info about this program.
Have any of You tried to contact mayor or Oliviero Toscani directly? Do You know why neither of these sites do not have updates about letter of introduction etc? Do You know any other property consultants that also have some relation to this Salemi program.
Vittorio does not answer to requests about Salemi trhough MySpace (tried both in Italian and English).

Actually, I am happy that David Moss does all this (less people means more space to choose from etc) however I was somehow dissapointed that there is no official (Salemi'an) source of info.

Comments very appreciated. Thanks!

[mipc]

MIPC: MIPC is taking a huge risk, speaking out loud about what a lot of people consider could be one big scam or at the best an administrative nightmare. MIPC is putting its professional track record and credability at risk. MIPC has carried out its own due diligence on the Salemi 1 Euro house offer and strongly believes in this and the future development of the South West Sicilian market.
MIPC are active members of the Italian community and on the edge of the property trends. MIPC target niche markets with high potential returns. You too can join us. Full due diligence will be legally provided about the Salemi 1 euro offer before ANYONE commits financially.

[sarahdarmody]

I visited Salemi in December with my partner. Apologies for taking so long to post - the holiday season got in the way. I am just now back online and am AGHAST at comments from people such as 'Hugo' who suggest something improper on behalf of David Moss or his handling of the council's offer. Hugo, your last post is so confused I don't know where to begin - first, I'll explain what I saw in brief.

After hearing about the council's 1 Euro offer via a BBC radio syndication in Australia, my partner and I applied through MIPC, and then we decided to travel to Sicily to see the region. While we were in Salemi, we ran in to David Moss everywhere we went. He was there for an entire week before Christmas, meeting local residents, council members, town planners - he was extremely active. We did not plan to meet him, it wasn't an official tour or anything. We speak 'where is the toilet?' Italian, so we were grateful to David for constantly showing us around, providing guidance, and inviting us along whenever he made some headway with the council. He was there for a week, by himself, chasing all his clients' applications up, going over city maps etc.

Hugo and other detractors, let me be very clear:

We are a successful young couple who are not idiots - we are not naive and we are not blind idealists, but at some point, God, give the people involved in this unique venture a break. Yes, there will be hiccups, but this is an offer made with the best of intentions. The only way this beautiful community will be rebuilt is if YOU also approach it with the best of intentions. For people who want to sit on the sidelines and rubbish the idea - go ahead. I doubt you'll make nice neighbours for the rest of us anyway.

We came away from our week certain that both David Moss of MIPC and the Salemi council are working extremely hard to offer something fair, attractive and exciting to people from around the world. They each have a great deal to lose if it fails. We have nothing to lose so far. Our payment to MIPC of 50 pounds seems ludicrously small considering how many emails I saw David personally reply to from all sides in a single day. We are still happy to pursue our 1 Euro application, and leave it to fate. We loved the region, and I was glad for a reason to visit Sicily after so many trips to mainland/Northern Italy. It was really beautiful, friendly, and much more authentic than over-priced touristy cities everyone has heard of.

So, Hugo, let me ask you - what kind of person expects everything handed to them for 50 quid and a 1 euro fee if your number comes up? Are you that naive? You keep questioning whether people are being genuine - are you? Because if you are genuinely interested, you'd better realise that you don't get something for nothing, and you are going to have to offer something of yourself in return. Please ask constructive questions if you truly want to construct something!

[HUGO]

An emotive appeal, for what? Did you actually read my posts? As have I stated elsewhere, I am not interested in 'having a go' at hardworking David Moss and his associates at MIPC. I'm interested in discovering the truth. Aren't you?

A while back, Manning accused me in a similar manner i.e that I'm doing down MIPC, not providing a useful contribution, that I should 'blog off' etc. Well, what have you contributed to the greater understanding of the legal and administrative realities in Salemi? Have you provided any new and essential information for readers apart from your personal impressions of a place you flew all the way from Australia to visit? Do you speak Italian? No. Do you read Italian? No. You flew in, enjoyed a tourist's view of the beauty which is Sicily, got back on a plane and then sat down and hammered me for making observations about the Salemi Project which do not concur with your own opinions. Furthermore, you accuse me of never having been to Sicily! On the contrary, I have relatives in Palermo and I spent much of my childhood and youth in Sicily.

You are lucky; you've been to Sicily. But there are readers of this Forum who have not been so fortunate. Don't you think that they deserve to read about all aspects of the Salemi Project; the glossy sales pitch, the pleasant impressions AND the hard facts i.e.that Mayor Sgarbi's offer is unlawful in Italian law. Whatever others may have suggested, Italian law is not going to be amended to suit Sgarbi's public announcement. Salemi officials are not going to shortcut administrative procedures which apply throughout Italy. If, eventually, any derelict houses in historic Salemi are sold, and it is a big if because of the acknowledged difficulties in identifying properties and proving title, they will be sold by auction. Granted, an auction is a sale, but it is not the same as offering up lots for the set price of 1 Euro each. You may be lucky and buy a Salemi property at auction for 1 Euro. But the truth is: Sgarbi cannot make good on his 1 EU offer.

[flying pigeon]

Wow, you sound very definite Hugo.
You seem to have some interior knowledge of exactly what the council will do, and how they will be forced to behave regarding this project - can you elaborate? Are you a property lawyer? (I'm not - I tend to learn as I go I'm amazed by your faith in the unshakable nature of the Italian administrative processes... Do you think that the notorious bureaucracy will beat the personal interests of politicians? (A genuine question - I have only my own brief observations of Italian processes, though there is undoubtedly a general reputation).

It is good to have an opposing voice on the forum - please don't "blog off" as you mentioned. But please, tell us, what is your interest in the project? You don't seem to be writing from a genuine spirit of participation or with an obvious desire to defend the best interests of Salemi. What do you think should happen with the project? Can you offer any constructive direction for those involved? What is the best thing for the town?

[flying pigeon]

Ah, sorry, I have just seen your post noting that Scarbi proposes to change Italian law to make the 1 Euro offer a reality. Thanks - that is helpful information.