How to Buy an Island on Sweat Equity

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September 1976

Being on the island in September of 1976 brings a brand new dimension to the meaning of owning a "fixer upper." Where would you start? With the raccoons in the attic? Getting rid of the other creatures living in the crawlspace? Running water? Power? A financial plan? A marketing plan? A development plan? Interconnected flow charts? Where does everything fit? Where do you find a crew? A plumber? An electrician? Someone who knows a night-blooming cereus from pokeweed? Someone to clear the jungle after you determine what goes and what stays? Getting the diesel engine running? Restoring seventeen major structures plus minor structures like firehouses, icehouses and steam houses? Dismantling and renovating, and restoring the others? What do you have to do to retain the integrity and character of the old? What's the best use for all that old heart-pine lumber and cypress boards? Where do you start rewiring and plumbing? Find a carpenter? Get a classy structural and design architect? Create a unique island style, one that will take over what will become the "old Florida" style? Create a five-year plan? Or as some planners like to suggest the first year of a five year plan that gets changed every year, because the plan is on track to finish two years ahead of schedule. Maybe the best place to start is to buy a flip chart, or a few of them and then put all the issues up on the walls so that they can be sorted and resorted and acted upon. What's more, there's another challenge. A major-league challenge. The initial intent of the group who bought the island as an investment was to hold and then sell at a profit. Back three years ago there was no plan to fix up the island, and certainly none has occurred between 1973, when the island was purchased, and now. But that is changing and maybe one of the first initiatives is to make sure the partners don't get cold feet before the new concept gets off the ground. And what is that new concept? Retain the island and sell parcels. You also realize that you are witnessing a unique concept in the making. How to buy an island with little or no money down. How to bootstrap your way based on sweat equity. And maybe the biggest challenge yet to be encountered, how to do it without being blindsided by the details?


 

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