France, Poitou Charentes

Overlooking a lake, this stone house has a garden with vegetable plot and a 96sq m stone barn,Traditional features are intact and include a stone fireplace, oak and chestnut floors and exposed beams. The house needs an update, including the removal of some heavy floral decor. The interior also needs reconfiguring: at the moment one of the bedrooms is on the ground floor and there is 58sq m of space on the first floor to convert.
Price: €99,000
Agent: frenchestateagents.com

Italy, Tuscany

With uplifting views of mountains, this two-bedroom, 190sq m house is built into the old walls of a village near the town of Fabbriche Di Vallico. Traditional loggias on two of the three floors (one is a basement) provide great viewing platforms, eateries and shade. There is an outbuilding with traditional wood oven – should you wish to create pizzas in classical style – and a garden. A new roof was added 12 years ago.
Price: €100,000
Agent: Casatuscany.com

Poland, Warsaw

This 27.6sq m, one-bedroom apartment in Warsaw has had the full treatment, with a slick paint job in shades of white and grey, Hansgrohe taps in the bathroom and a modern kitchen. Original floors in the bedroom and sitting-room have been revamped. There is an open-plan kitchen/living-room, a bedroom and shower-room. It comes furnished. Warsaw station is 10 minutes walk and Rondo ONZ Metro station is two minutes on foot.
Price: €90,000
Agent: rightmove.co.uk

Canada, Nova Scotia

Surrounded by 11 acres of land, with a brook, this 129sq m house on Boularderie Island has open-plan living and three bedrooms. The house has a wood-burning stove. There is also a barbecue area on a deck out front. The nearby Bras d'or Lakes are good for swimming and the village of Baddeck and town of North Sydney are about a half-hour drive away.
Price: $150,000 (€101,873)
Agent: century21.ca