Italian towns and villages regularly announce that they're selling off old properties for less than the price of a coffee in a bid to reverse depopulation. And unsurprisingly, plenty of people are captivated by the idea of living in a remote Italian village and are eager to take these local mayors up on the offer.

But once word gets out, Italian officials with limited English soon find themselves struggling to deal with the deluge of calls from around the world – or to explain the terms and conditions that mean the houses really cost a little more than advertised.