Meredith Tabbone's eyes popped at the price of her dream home: A dollar and change. The East Peoria native would have to go across the globe to get it. But she didn’t mind, as she often followed her wanderlust. She just needed faith that it wasn’t too good to be true.

She was depending on one of those deals — they seemed to be everywhere last year on news media and social media — whereby ancient, rural Italian villages were trying to lure new residents by offering centuries-old homes for just one euro (about $1.10 today).