Obtaining whale’s teeth to give to island chieftains for a ritualistic offering was just one of the hurdles faced by Australian couple Tracey and Jim Johnston when they bought their own island in Fiji’s Mamanuca Chain in 2003.
Seeking a quieter life — but also income — the couple quit their jobs and sold their family home in Brisbane to purchase Wadigi Island for just over $2 million. They now own and operate a five-star resort on the island.
Despite other drawbacks, that include paying as much as $21 per kilo for snow peas (something they could get for a few dollars per kilo at home) and the occasional cyclone, the couple said they are happy with their decision to buy the three-acre island. They rent a three-bedroom luxury property to customers (among their big name clients: hotel heiress Paris Hilton) who pay upwards of $2,459 per night to get the private island experience sans ownership.
“The transition was really complicated, but we wanted to run a business that would provide us a relaxed income and get my husband out of the corporate life,” Tracey Johnston said.
Owning a private island isn’t just for billionaires like Richard Branson, who actually only paid $180,000 for Necker Island. Price tags for islands range from $80,000 to $600 million. Shouldering the upfront cost is only the first of many hurdles.
Why buy an island in the first place? For some people, it’s a level of prestige. For others, it’s about new business opportunities — developing and running boutique resorts or exclusive guest houses, for instance. Still others acquire the land as investment property, to build a second home, or for corporate development.
Finding paradise
Fewer than a thousand properties can be found on the market worldwide each year, according to the Private Islands Buyer’s Guide. For prospective buyers, the majority of islands for sale can be found through websites like Private Islands Online and Vladi, though a few properties can even be found on Craigslist or real estate agents.Asia is one of the most expensive regions to buy in, since there is fierce competition for few properties in that region. Some of the most reasonably priced islands can be found in Central American countries like Belize.
Make it work
There are several common ways islands are sold, or, in some cases, leased.
Among them, freehold leases grant 100% ownership of the land and any buildings on it. Such leases are common in Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean. That’s how Tynan (who goes by a single name), American cofounder of blogging platform SETT, partially-purchased a five-acre island one hour by boat from Halifax, Canada. After finding the land on Craigslist, he and nine friends split the $100,000 cost. The group set up a corporation in the United States and combined their assets in order to pay in cash. As one of the mandates of the acquisition, a Canadian lawyer was required to register the deed.
The other main option, a leasehold, is less ownership and more traditional lease. With this method, buyers sign a long-term lease typically between 30 to 99 years, which grants them temporary possession through the government entity, corporation, or individual that legally owns the land.
