My husband and I moved to a small Italian town with $1 homes. We were anxious it would be a lifeless place but were pleasantly surprised.

• My husband and I moved from Hamburg, Germany, to a small Italian town in August.

• The town offers homes for 1 euro, and we were worried about the poor reputation these places have.

• But we took the risk, and we're so glad we did.

My husband and I became interested in the 1-euro housing schemes in Italy last year but were concerned about investing time and money into a house in a village that was dying out.

We're in our early 30s, and we'd read online that the catch to these 1-euro homes was that they were usually falling apart and in towns that are basically desolate retirement homes with little to no businesses.

We were coming from Hamburg, Germany, which has a population of 2 million, and we were nervous about what life would be like and being lonely in one of these small Italian towns.

But after visiting some properties in one of the towns, we decided to take the risk, and it was worth it.

In the end, we avoided the 1-euro homes and bought a farmhouse for 29,000 euros, or about $30,400, instead. Our worries about being lonely in a run-down town quickly disappeared after we arrived.

We were pleasantly surprised by how lively our town was

We moved to Sant'Elia a Pianisi, a village in southern Italy with about 1,500 residents.

When we arrived in August, there were festivals every day and night. There were parades, concerts, festivals with free food and drinks, sword fighting, and fire-breathing shows.

It felt surreal, moving to this tiny town in the middle of nowhere Italy, yet hearing English and German everywhere we went.

Sitting at the local Irish pub, we were surrounded by older Americans who'd left during a diaspora between the '40s and '70s, when many Italians ended up in the US or Germany for work.

Now, as they age, many have returned to their hometowns to enjoy retirement. Their relatives also come to visit and explore their heritage.

Many still have family homes here in the village and donate money to keep the village running well while they're away. This contributes to lovely projects, including handicap-inclusive playgrounds, parks, and holy places.

In August, we also met a lot of young people who'd left the town for university or better work opportunities. Many expressed a longing to return to Sant'Elia and hoped the increase in remote work availability would allow them to come back sooner rather than later.

The town quiets down after August but is still full of life

We were afraid Sant'Elia would be a ghost town after August. To be honest, it did become much quieter, but not as much as we'd anticipated.

There are still parades every month. The three restaurants are quieter but still full on Saturday nights with live music and sometimes karaoke.

When hanging my laundry outside on the clothesline, I hear children screeching and giggling. There are families, both young and old, and they're all so kind and warm.

Most people in town gather at an outdoor market once a week, which offers fresh cheeses, vegetables, fruits, plants, and new and used clothing and shoes.

We can buy these items any day of the week at the multiple little grocery stores, bakeries, butchers, and clothing stores in town, but the market also offers the opportunity to socialize with other residents.

We don't speak Italian but can still communicate

My husband and I are learning Italian, but neither of us would say we speak it yet. That doesn't stop the townspeople from wanting us to feel welcome.

We use what little broken Italian we know, and they accommodate with their own broken English and German.

When the language barrier becomes too tough, we resort to hand gestures or a quick game of charades to get our point across.

Words aren't always necessary, though.

Many of our new neighbors have given us presents, such as squashes, pomegranates, homemade cheeses, and olive oil.

We feel very welcome and are happy to be part of this community.

We're not far from the city

If we want more action and entertainment, we don't have to go far.

The nearest city, Campobasso, has a population of about 47,500 and is a half-hour drive away.

One downside is the drive itself. It's a windy one through the mountains with a lot of sharp turns and steep hills. Almost all of our friends we've driven through it wanted to throw up by the end.

Campobasso, though, offers a beautiful historical center, shopping malls, nightclubs, movie theaters, markets, museums, and cultural events.

Even without Campobasso, there's never a dull moment. I recently joined an expat Facebook Group for the region where people post daily about coming wine and food festivals, parades, and musical performances in their towns.

Sant'Elia is a small town in a small region of Italy, but we've found everything we could have ever wanted from this community.

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