An Oak Island home, located on the south shore of Long Island near Fire Island, will not have electricity, garbage collection or emergency services. And it is only accessible by boat.
It is for sale for $500,000.
Yes, the area offers beautiful ocean views and the chance to have fun in a peaceful oasis just 50 miles from Times Square. Life on Oak Island is for those who have “a very warm soul,” one resident told the New York Times in 2021, and rewards people who don’t mind doing almost everything themselves.
But there is not a single store, restaurant or postal service, the New York Times reported. Residents rely on solar panels, battery-powered pumps and propane-fueled gas lamps, and notably, it is illegal to live there year-round. Its more than 14,000 residents return seasonally to their waterfront properties during the summer months.
The 1,950-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom listed home was built in 1904 and includes a small cottage at the back of the property, a fireplace and a private waterfront dock. It offers about an acre of land and has “no damage from Hurricane Sandy,” according to the property listing, which was one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.
According to Redfin, the average home on Long Island sells for about $645,000, up more than 12% from last year, and is very much in line with the rising home prices people are facing all over the country.
The growing unaffordable housing crisis has pushed some people to try alternatives, such as moving away from the electricity grid, which is now a $2.27 billion market set to reach $4.5 billion by 2030, according to a report by SkyQuest. More expensive housing means that demand for smaller or off-grid housing is “likely to increase significantly over the next five years,” according to SkyQuest, and that young people who can’t afford home prices and retirees struggling to maximize their their savings will be the main driver of its growth.