We bought a cheap house without even visiting – it’s so safe we leave it unlocked, but there’s a major obstacle
A VETERAN and his family have chosen to leave the United States, scoring a cheap house in a charming Southern Italian town.
Nadine and Kim Dawkins decided to make the move to Italy, along with their two children, permanent, despite not even visiting the house in person before buying.
They decided to buy in Italy after learning that Latronico had a scheme to sell cheap ready-to-move houses.
This contrasted with other towns in southern Italy that have offered schemes to buy houses in ruins for just one euro ($1.10).
Latronico is a town in Southern Italy in the province of Potenza some 888ft above sea level.
With a population of about 4,342, the town has limited public transportation but boasts several local sights including the Basilica di Sant’Egidio Abate, the Chiesa [church] di San Nicola, and the Chiesa [church] di Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Nadine told CNN Travel that Latronico was “a quiet, safe place that gives peace of mind.”
That peace of mind is something the family found quickly when they began working with Castellano, a pioneer of the cheap housing initiative, to who they eventually gave power of attorney in dealing with the technical parts of the sale.
They landed their new home for just $46,700 in the historic district of the town.
It was move-in ready, but the family elected to add two bathrooms to the previously one-bathroom house, enlarged the kitchen to include dining space, and installed bug screens on the windows and balcony.
The family temporarily moved to Panama while waiting to make their final move to Italy.
Under the 90 days in every 180 days rule, the family will spend six months of the year in their Italy home and the rest in Panama, eventually applying for an elective residency visa when they are eligible, with the long-term goal of obtaining Italian citizenship.
The family was very explicit in their reasons for leaving:
“Black American history has been lost,” Nadine continued, “We need to get out of America, so we leave.”
But their decision to move began its roots long before this year.
Nadine grew up listening to her Nonna’s stories of Italy which fostered a strong connection to the country and her ancestry there.
She was later stationed in Italy as a soldier and that connection grew; she “vowed” to return and did so with her children and husband years later.
Nadine’s connection to Italy is complicated and brings mixed feelings.
Her great-great-grandmother, Lucinda, was enslaved on a plantation in Arkansas and was bought by Clint Jeffery upon his arrival in the United States from Italy.
When asked, Nadine said she does not know much about Lucinda because the matriarchs in her family did not talk about it much other than that Jeffery, “lived out the rest of his days with her.”
The final straw came in 2020 when George Floyd was killed, Nadine explained:
“[It] showed the world how we as Black people in America have been treated for centuries,”
“Police brutality towards Black people, mass shootings from domestic terrorists, and just the overall hate in this country is why we are leaving the USA.”
It was one night in during the coronavirus pandemic when she came across a CNN Travel article outlining how Latronico Italy was selling cheap houses, and the husband and wife immediately emailed the town’s mayor about properties.
With her being a 30-year military career and her husband working for the U.S. Government, the move represents a huge lifestyle change that they adjusted to well.
Nadine says the biggest hurdle of the move to Italy is the language barrier, but people are kind about it:
“People are patient for me to use my translator each time, and the village is remote so you need a vehicle to move around beyond the places within walking distance.”
She says that she eventually wants to help teach local children English and help put the tiny town she moved to on the map.