When Rubia Daniels heard a town in Italy was selling off abandoned homes for $1 apiece, she had to take a look for herself, NBC News reports. The Berkeley, Calif., resident booked her first flight to Mussomeli, Sicily, in 2019 and quickly ended up buying not one, but three, fixer-uppers at a bargain price.

Daniels, 50, has a construction background and she staked out her vision for three dream projects: a vacation home, a restaurant and a wellness center. So far, she’s spent about $35,000 working with a local crew on her vacation home.