Inside a $56,000 Sicilian Home: Full Tour & Cost Breakdown!
Inside a $56,000 Sicilian Home: Full Tour & Cost Breakdown!
Living Overseas TV host Jim Kellett interviews expat Amanda (Amanda in Italy) to tour her restored home in Salemi, Sicily, and explore the reality of affordable Mediterranean living.
📍 Location & History: Set in historic Salemi, Sicily—a town of ~10,000 people just 45 minutes from Palermo Airport. Amanda’s multi-floor home sits inside an 1800s courtyard complex opposite a 500-year-old former palace.
🏠 Property & Renovation Details: Originally purchased for $24,000 ($28,000 total after closing fees), Amanda spent $28,000 on renovations—primarily moving the bathroom into a modern space. Her total cost to own outright was $56,000.
🛋️ Interior & Features: The home retains original marble floors and exposed stone, supplemented with custom woodworking, a modern kitchen with gas/electric cooking, air conditioning, and secondhand local antiques.
💶 Affordable Cost of Living: Amanda lives comfortably on $1,150–$1,300 (€1,000–€1,200) monthly. Her highest bill is electricity (~$200/month). Local perks include $1.60 (€1.50) cappuccinos, 3-liter jugs of local wine for $3 (€3), and two-person dining out for $20.
📜 Visas & Tax Perks: Operating on an Elective Residency Visa transitions into full legal residency. As an official resident using the house as her primary residence, she pays zero property taxes.
#SicilyRealEstate #LivingAbroad #AffordableHousing
9 Comments
vowww After a long time! good to see you jim!
Why this stupid crazy distracting music
200 Euros per month for electricity bill seems really excessive to me, unless she relies on electric heating in winter (but in Sicily, heating is needed for just a few weeks per year) and runs a lot of AC in the summer. I live in Rome and, on average, I spend on electricity 50/60 euros per month (including the mandatory subscription to state tv). But I have gas heating (last year winter was warm, so I never turned it on), and I am used to using just fans in the summer.
Cute place. Would have been nice to ask her why she chose Italy and does she speak Italian. Also, listing her sites in text summary would have made it easier to find her channel. Thx
Wow, beautiful house
Imagine that, buy a home and if it’s your primary residence then you don’t pay any property tax. What a concept!
If you took out the bidet…are you you concerned about poo 💩 smeary, ass smell 💩 itchy bum 💩? 😅😅😅
In Sicily and throughout Italy, bidets are legally required in residential buildings under Article 7 of the Ministerial Decree of July 5, 1975, which states that every home's primary bathroom must include a toilet, a sink, a tub or shower, and a bidet.
You can get a toliet seat bidet attachment thaat works amazing! and it's simple to install yourself! I have one back in the states and I can litterally never go back to not using one.