Buy a whole Portuguese village for less than the price of an average UK home
If you're not impressed with the properties your budget will stretch to in the UK, it could be time to think big - and consider an entire village in Portugal. One has gone on the market for just £243,000 - less than the price of the average home in the UK.
Naturally, at this kind of price, you're buying something of a fixer-upper, but if you have the time, the skills - and the cash - then the 22-house village in Sigoeria, Alvaiazere in central Portugal could be yours.
It has gone up for sale on Pure Portugal, where the agent is hoping it will be bought by someone with a business plan. They claim it could provide accommodation for 50 people, as well as a restaurant and swimming pool, so it could be run as a self-contained holiday complex.
Would you buy it?
Unfortunately, to get to this point, it would take an enormous investment of time and money, as most of the houses are essentially ruins at the moment.
It has the added advantage that it is already set up with electricity and a water supply, so you wouldn't have to get bogged down with arranging these basic amenities. However, you would still be expecting to plough millions of pounds into any renovation.
It's hard to know whether it will find a buyer. There are thousands of abandoned villages across Spain and Portugal, and hundreds of them are for sale. There are plenty of people who show an interest - drawn by the price, the beauty of the area, and the potential to create something unique. However, often the location, the amount of work, and the cost means that when push comes to shove, they don't make an offer.
Johnny Depp
There are those, however, who have had the vision, passion and deep pockets to build their own village. The most famous example is Johnny Depp, who bought a 37-acre village in the south of France. He is said to have spent around £7 million turning the stone buildings into the ultimate home for his guests.
Many of the buildings were turned into guest cottages - including the church. One of them has a wine cellar cave that was inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean. Then there's the incredible 12-bedroom 12-bathroom main property, and the huge outdoor pool.
If you can't face doing the work yourself on your own village, the good news is that Depp's village went on the market last year. The bad news is that the asking price was £18 million.
But what do you think? Would you fancy owning your own village, and could you face the amount of work involved? Let us know in the comments.
