The 29 -year -old could not afford a house in the United States, so he bought in Italy

Ohio native Lauren Scott29, had lived in Los Angeles for 10 years working as a freelance in the film industry, when he decided to be ready to buy a house. At that time, Scott lived in a study study and paid $ 1,175 for rent.

Scott began his search in 2019 and wanted to stay below $ 400,000. But then the Covid-19 pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, and was found over time every time he made an offer in houses in the city.

“I did not think that I could ever buy in California, much less the angels, which is a place that I have called home for so long and that really struggled,” Scott tells CNBC to do it.

Scott realized that buying in California was almost impossible, so he started looking in other states such as Florida, where his family lives. He quickly realized that he could not find a job that coincides with his current lifestyle.

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

He Contitute between premises and expatriates On the increase in housing costs, he made Scott dismiss Mexico and Portugal quite quickly. Then she focused on the properties in Italy. She established a $ 50,000 budget and made her house hunting online.

“I did not fly and bought the invisible view, what I do not recommend,” says Scott. “I contacted many agents and ended up paying someone to do everything for me.”

After several weeks of search, Scott found a two -bedroom attached house and a bath in an hour from Florence. He could walk and use public transport, which was a great priority for her.

“I didn’t want to deal with a car since I am not there full time and just being in the mountains and having that view made me feel super at peace,” says Scott.

The townhouse had been on the market for 32,000 euros or $ 34,905 USD. The previous owner told him that the price was low because the hot water boiler would need repairs.

“He left him completely furnished and just wanted to go out and move to a different part of Italy, but he had trouble selling the house,” says Scott. “I really was lucky because there is nothing wrong with the need to replace that part of the house.”

Scott paid the total sale price of $ 34,905 and additional 4,200 euros, or $ 4,581 USD, in closing costs.

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

Scott closed in the house in August 2022 and flew to see him in person for the first time in November and says that when he first arrived, he was overcome by emotion.

“It was just a surreal feeling. I couldn’t believe that I had a house in my 20 years because I didn’t think this ever happened. I think I cried too,” says Scott.

The original Scott Plan for the house was to rent it, but he realized that he did not want to deal with the problems that could arise with the tenants or the tenants in the short term.

“The cost of simply having it empty would probably exceed the cost of renting it and that someone breaks something,” she says. “I am a bit protective in my house.”

Scott visits Italy twice a year and uses the house attached as a vacation house, but is currently trying to secure a digital nomadic visa to stay in the country for a while. In 2024, Italy launched its “visa for remote workers”, Allow a one -year residence with the option to renew so that highly qualified professionals work remotely as employees or as independent workers on their own.

“I hope that at some point in next year I can officially move, but if I finish staying in the United States, I plan to use it as a retirement plan because I know I will not be able to retire in the United States,” she says.

“I am thinking more as a long -term investment to get out of the United States as an independent professional, it is actually worrying because I do not always have medical attention, I do not have a 401K and I cannot allow myself to invest, so I think that I only can know that I have something safe and a place to call mine when I am old is really comforting.”

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

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

Scott still lives in Los Angeles, now in an apartment in a room where he pays $ 1,695 per month for rent, including a parking space. She is also independently, but has changed to the creation of content and the work of social networks.

And although he is trying to discover how long it will spend at his home in Italy, the only thing Scott knows with certainty is that he has no plans to buy a house in the United States.

“It’s not difficult because I think having a property is a blessing, but anything can happen,” she says. “I don’t want to completely demolish my savings or indebted to buy a house here, especially with the state of the country at this time.”

Usd conversions were held on March 20, 2025, using Oanda conversion rates from 1 euro to 1.09 US dollar. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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