This Wife Told Her Husband That Our Listings Were Dangerous. Within Days, They Bought A $90K House in Greece.
“It didn’t take long before he sent me the listing for our little place and I fell in love, too. We put it under contract the same day, sight unseen!”
Here’s an incredible phrase we get a lot: “I showed one of your listings to my spouse, and next thing you know we have a cheap old house…” Only in the case of Nikki Couture and her husband Stephen, our 2023 Facebook listing for the most charming little c.1600s stone house in the village of Pikris on the island of Crete in Greece was the property that caught their eye… from Florida!
“It didn’t take long before he sent me the listing for our little place and I fell in love, too. We put it under contract the same day, sight unseen!” They closed on it almost a year ago for just $90K.
Funny story, before that event, they had never even been to Greece. But that didn’t matter, not after Nikki talked to the agent and saw a recorded video tour. She was hooked and knew that the place had been very well maintained.
The previous owners had mindfully restored the place in 2007 without losing an iota of charm. Nikki says their light-filled home is located in a teeny hamlet called Pikris, which is located in the mountains in a gorge, and is about 12 minutes to the beach and 25 minutes to Old Town Rethynmo. It has a rear and roof terrace, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and small living area.
For anyone scouting their own abroad dwelling, it was technology that made the decision possible, says Nikki. “With modern technology you can figure things out pretty quickly.” For Nikki and Stephen, that meant quickly surmising its exact location and perusing the area around the property by looking at Google Earth, for example. “You don’t want to be completely isolated, even if you’re really trying to get away. You need your grocery stores! I could see this was close enough to the airport and to these beautiful vacation areas. Wherever you look, you’ve got to make sure that it’s in a great area. If you can’t get to it, it’s not going to work.”
Nikki told me of how they were excited and nervous to see their new Greek abode in person. “We flew to the island to see it, and we couldn’t have been happier. Our sweet little village (of less than 50 people!) is close to the ocean and surrounded by olive groves.” And, because Crete is a self-sufficient island, all the food is super fresh, locally grown and cheap, says Nikki. “The fish is amazing, the olive oil is amazing and the wine is amazing!”
If Nikki and Stephen had any concerns about fitting in with the locals, that was quelled the moment they arrived. “The villagers are the nicest people. I’m not exaggerating when I say I think the average age is 85! They are so incredibly sweet.”
I asked Nikki if she and her husband still thought our property postings were dangerous. She said this listing has changed their lives. “My husband says this is his favorite place. It’s amazing.”
Think you might want to buy a house somewhere far away? Subscribe to our Cheap Old Houses Abroad Newsletter for your own little great escape.
I’ve always said our listings are a little bit dangerous—in the best way. They plant a seed. They open a door. And sometimes, like Nikki and Stephen, they sweep you off to a tiny village in Greece. That’s the heart of Cheap Old Houses: it’s never just about the house. It’s about the people who find them, love them, and shape new lives around them. That’s why I wrote the Cheap Old Houses book—to celebrate the many paths people take when they say yes to something old, beautiful, and full of potential. Grab your copy and get swept up in the stories of people who took the leap—and found home.
Want Your Own Cheap Old House?
Subscribe for thousands of houses we don’t show anywhere else, delivered directly to your inbox.
We scour new cheap old houses listings daily, coast to coast and abroad. We hand pick the most beautiful of the bunch and share them in our four weekly eNewsletters: Cheap Old Farmhouses, Ultra Cheap Houses, Cheap(ish) Old Houses + Cheap Houses Abroad.