Lauren Scott, a 29-year-old Ohio native, purchased a two-bedroom townhouse in Italy. This is because she could not afford to buy a house in America. With housing costs in Los Angeles spiraling, Scott was compelled to act. After living there for the last 10 years, she wanted to experience the world outside of Hawaii. After numerous frustrating offers, she finally found a place an hour outside of Florence that she purchased for $34,905. Scott intends to use the Italian townhouse as a residence someday, either as a second home or part of a retirement strategy.
Scott, who grew up in Ohio, spent a decade in Los Angeles as an itinerant worker in the film industry. By 2019, she was ready to buy a home of her own.
I didn't think I was ever going to be able to buy in California, much less Los Angeles, which is somewhere I've kind of called home for such a long time and that really sucked. - Lauren Scott
Her original budget was $50,000 but she wanted to keep it well under $400,000 for a property in the U.S.
Scott initially cast her net wide, looking beyond the U.S. after realizing that homes in Los Angeles would be out of her price range. After getting fed up with the US market, she decided to look at the bigger picture.
I don't want to completely demolish my savings or go into debt to buy a home here, especially with the state of the country right now. - Lauren Scott
After a little bit of searching, Scott found a two-bedroom, one-bath townhouse an hour from Florence, Italy. It was on the market for 32,000 euros, or about $34,905 USD.
In order to make the deal work, she took out a $20,000 personal loan from a bank in her hometown. Beyond the asking price, Scott incurred 4,200 euros ($4,581 USD) in closing costs.
It was just a surreal feeling. I couldn't believe I owned a home in my 20s because I didn't think this would ever happen. I think I cried too. - Lauren Scott
These days, Scott rents a one-bedroom unit in Los Angeles that costs him $1,695 per month. Her rent prices in Los Angeles are outrageous. Homeownership in Italy highlights how out of touch the affordability crisis in America has become.
Scott revealed that the former owner of the townhouse had left it turnkey—in other words, with all of its furniture intact.
She left it completely furnished and just wanted to get out and move to a different part of Italy but was having problems selling the home. - Scott
Scott noted that the townhouse wouldn’t need much work, which made the deal even sweeter.
I really lucked out because there's nothing wrong with it except for needing to replace that one part of the home. - Scott
Scott is currently working to get a digital nomad visa across the finish line. This new visa will enable her to remain in Italy for longer periods.
I'm hoping at some point within the next year I can officially move but if I end up staying in the States, I plan to use it as more of a retirement plan because I know I'm not going to be able to retire in the U.S. - Lauren Scott
Scott plans to rent out the townhouse if she ends up staying in the United States.
The cost of just having it empty would probably outweigh the cost of renting it out and having somebody break something. - Lauren Scott
Scott admitted to some hesitation as well at the idea of going so far from her family, too.
It makes me sad because what's keeping me here is my parents. I don't want to move all across the world and then not be able to see my family a lot. - Lauren Scott
Scott lamented the issues that young people today have with finding affordable housing and the overall state of the housing market.
It's sad to know that my parents could buy a home and my grandparents could, too, but with inflation, it's not as accessible for my generation anymore. I don't think that's fair to our generation and the ones coming after us. - Lauren Scott
