How to Buy an Island

Video Transcript

"Have you ever dreamed of owning your own island? My name is Alicia Lowther, licensed real estate professional with Realty Executives discussing how to buy an island. If that has been your dream believe it or not it might be much more affordable and achievable than you ever dreamed. The first step is to identify the location; where do you want to live, where do you want your island to be? Generally speaking islands that are in colder climates are much more affordable than those in tropical climates. Once you've identified where you want to be then you need to start gathering information about what properties are available. One way to do this is contact your local real estate agent and ask for a referral or research different real estate agents in the area that you're wanting to buy; also they are many sites online devoted to buying your own island. Also if you decided to move there why don't you go ahead and visit, get to know some locals. Locals are a great resource for information, who knows they might even know of one for sale and can introduce you to the owner. Once you know which island you would like to purchase one thing you should do is ask lots and lots and lots of questions. You're going to want to find out about the accessibility; how are you going to get food and other necessary supplies to the island, what about the infrastructure are there roads there, is it already electricity there, if not what is the developmental potential, and how much is going to cost you to develop it? Get lots of quotes, more than just one to ensure that you have the expenses to accomplish your goal in addition to the purchase of the property. Also what you need to do is check the political stability of the country that you're purchasing in, and also how do they record property information? What are your rights of ownership? Now once you've decided to proceed what you might want to consider is why not rent it for a while? You test drive a car so why don't you test drive your island?It just might be that your idea of island living isn't just what you thought it would be, and that way you know that before spending the money and purchasing. My name is Alicia Lowther, licensed real estate professional with Realty Executives discussing how to buy an island."