There are many luxuries out there in the world that you can spend your money on: fast supercars, large mansions, or luxury yachts. Many would also point towards a private island as being the ultimate luxury purchase. A small, private island located in the Caribbean that has a large estate can be one of the most incredible things to own…and also one of the most expensive. The costs of purchasing an island, securing the proper licenses, ordering raw materials, and then constructing a home is obviously a lot of money. Since we often seen small islands go for millions of dollars, a private island must be the most expensive luxury purchase right? Well as it turns out, that’s not always the case, as private islands are way more affordable than you might think.
Okay let’s get this out of the way first: buying a private island isn’t cheap, affordable, or fairly practical. No matter what, you’re going to have to be fairly well-off to afford one. BUT, you don’t have to be a multi-millionaire hedge-fund owner to buy one. Of course islands that are for sale in places like the Bahamas or the Maldives are going to be extremely expensive, but if we look elsewhere for islands and broaden our horizons, you’d be surprised as to how cheap they actually are.
If you don’t mind making a sacrifice when it comes to location, the private island market is filled with great options. There are plenty of island for sale in places like New England, Central America, Scotland, Canada, and Sweden that are actually very affordable, quite remote, and very charming. You will find the best prices for private islands in areas where the market is saturated with islands that are for sale. Everyone wants a private island in the Caribbean, but not as many people want private island in Maine. So how much can you expect to pay for a private island in one of these locations? $2 million dollars? $1 million dollars? $500,000 dollars? How about under $100,000?
Believe-it-or-not, there are actually plenty of private islands for sale that are under $100,000 dollars. The 13-acre Inishbigger Island that’s off the coast of Ireland is currently going for $92,861. Then there is Sweet Island, a 3.3-acre private island off the coast of British Columbia for $82,900 dollars. Is that sill to expensive? Check out Hemlow Island in Nova Scotia that’s going for $29,500 dollars. I found those three islands in a matter of minutes, and there are thousands of more like them out there. While they aren’t tropical paradises, these islands are still beautiful and most importantly, they are fairly affordable given the fact that they are private islands.
So once you’ve got your “budget” private island, all that’s left is building a home on it. Depending on what you want in a home, the price can range greatly. But if you were to construct a small but luxurious 2-bedroom getaway, well that won’t break the bank at all. So sure, there are plenty of multi-million dollar private islands out there. But if you expand your horizons outside of the Caribbean, owning a private island isn’t as expensive as you might think.
Photo from Christopher Michel/Flickr
