""The houses need new roofs and floors, you'd need to put in electricity, water and sewerage and re-plaster them at the end of it all. I reckon it would cost about €35,000 per property."
€150,000 later.....
You can get yourself a nice condo in Florida or Barcelona for less than what it would cost you to get mired in one of these fixer-uppers in a podunk town in Sicily.
I'd almost be more enticed if they were priced at €10,000 or €20,000. At €0, that implies to me they're worth much less than that.