29-year-old could not afford a house in the US, so buy in Italy

Ohio born Lauren Scott29, she lived in Los Angeles for 10 years, working as a freelancer in the film industry when she decided she was ready to buy a house. At that time, Scott lived in a studio apartment and paid $ 1.175 rent.

Scott began his demand in 2019 and wanted to stay under $ 400,000. But then the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 and it turned out to be an offer for homes in the city.

“I didn’t think I could ever buy in California, even less in Los Angeles, which is somewhere where I called a home for such a long time and that is really sucking,” says Scott of CNBC, who does it.

Scott realized that buying in California was close to impossible, so she began to look at other states like Florida, where her family lives. She quickly realized that she would not be able to find a job that would meet her current lifestyle.

Scott was also disappointed with the quality of life in the United States and looked at Mexico, Portugal and Italy, because they all had time, similar to California.

Thehe Dispute between local and expatrios Over increasing housing costs, he made Scott reject Mexico and Portugal quite quickly. So she focused on the properties in Italy. She set a $ 50,000 budget and made her home hunting online.

“I didn’t fly or buy an unprecedented one,” Scott says. “I reached for many agents and just eventually paid someone to do everything for me.”

After a few weeks of search, Scott found a two -bedroom, a bathroom at home an hour outside Florence. She could walk and use public transport, which was a great priority for her.

“I didn’t want to take a car because I’m not there on the full time and I’m just in the mountains and this view made me feel great in peace,” Scott says.

The city house was on the market for 32,000 euros or $ 34,905. The previous owner told her that the price was determined, as the hot water boiler would need repair.

“She left it completely furnished and just wanted to go out and move to another part of Italy, but there are problems with home selling,” Scott says. “I was really lucky because there is nothing wrong with that but to have to replace this part of the home.”

Scott paid the full requested price of $ 34,905 and an additional $ 4200, or $ 4,581, in closing costs.

Not wanting to exhaust his savings, Scott secured a personal loan of $ 20,000 from a local bank to help buy the house, according to documents reviewed by CNBC, do it.

Scott closed to the city house in August 2022 and flies to see her personally for the first time in November and says that when she arrived for the first time, she was defeated by emotion.

“It was just a surreal feeling. I couldn’t believe that I had a home of my 20s because I didn’t think it would ever happen. I think I cried,” Scott says.

Scott’s original plan for the house was to hire it, but she realized that she did not want to deal with the problems that could arise with tenants or short -term tenants.

“The cost of its simple empty will probably exceed the cost of hiring and someone breaks something,” she says. “I’m somehow protected over my house.”

Scott visits Italy twice a year and uses the city house as a holiday home, but is currently trying to provide a digital nomad visa to stay in the country for some time. In 2024, Italy launches its “Visa for remote workers”. Authorizing a one -year residence with the ability to renew highly qualified professionals to work remotely as employees or as self -employed freelancers.

“I hope at some point in the next year I can officially move, but if I eventually stay in the United States, I plan to use it as a more pension plan because I know I will not be able to retire in the US,” she says.

“I think about it more like a long-term investment to get out of the US like a freelancer, it’s actually concerned because I don’t always have healthcare, I don’t have 401K and I can’t afford to invest, so I think I just know that I have something safe and a place to call mine when I’m older.”

Scott says that although she was excited that she could buy a house, the feeling was bitter because she was able to do it only outside the United States – the country where she was born and grew up.

“It saddens me because what keeps me here is my parents. I don’t want to move around the world and then I can’t see my family very much,” she says. “It’s sad to know that my parents could buy a home and my grandparents could also, but with inflation, this is no longer so accessible to my generation. I don’t think it’s fair to our generation and those who come after us.”

Scott still lives in Los Angeles, now in a one -bedroom apartment where he pays $ 1695 a month rent, including a parking space. It is also freelance, but has focused on creating content and working on social media.

And although she tries to understand how long she will spend in her Italy a house, the only thing Scott knows for sure is that there are no plans to buy a home in America.

“It’s hard because I think having a property is a blessing, but everything can happen,” she says. “I do not want to completely demolish my savings or go into debt to buy a home here, especially with the state of the country right now.”

The US Dollar Conversions were made on March 20, 2025 using the Oanda conversion percentage of 1 euro in 1.09 USD. All amounts are rounded to the closest dollar.

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