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C R E S C E N T I S L A N D ( F O R S A L E ) , F L O R I D A But just as it takes a special kind of person to sell an island, it also takes a special kind of person to buy an island. Though it can seem similar on TV, selling, buying, and developing an island is a little different than dealing with a regular home on the mainland. For many people, it's not their first vacation home, and for most, it's all about the privacy. "There's something also really romantic about having a tiny piece of the planet, it's yours to take care of and there's something appealing to that," Krolow said. On an island, there are no boundaries, your property isn't until the end of the road, and your neighbor isn't there. Though when buying an island, Krolow admits that it is hard to find one that doesn't have neighboring islands. What he does stress is that buyers know what's going to be on those islands in the future, so their view is not one day blocked by buildings and large homes. That's where Krolow's team gets very involved, getting maps from municipalities, finding out what's government or privately owned, what's a park, and so on. When it comes down to it, there are two types of island buyers: the people who have been bitten by the island bug but don't know what they're getting themselves into, and the people who buy an island because it's close to their hearts, whether they already have ties to the area or already have a home on the mainland. With the island beginners, Krolow and his team will often times help them find a region, and once the buyers start to figure things out, Krolow will set them up with an architect. He explained that it takes years to build on the islands, dredging under the water, getting permits, and hiring staff to help care for the area whether the buyer is there or renting it out. Over the years, Krolow has learned many things about both the business side of private islands, as well as maintaining and caring for one himself. His own personal island is in Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada, and is what he describes as a real community, where everyone knows each other and looks out for each others islands. In the office, "you learn pretty quickly what to take with a grain of salt. We get emails all the time, people wanting to start their own countries, kids that see a $100,000 island on the website and think they're all at that price and can save up and buy one. Sometimes people see a small structure and don't realize that it's probably going to cost three times the price to build on it. It's tricky but we have a good system in place. That's the main reason we came out with our magazine, which has been in publication for almost 10 years. We needed a way to get the islands in front of people. We try very hard to set clients up with islands as rentals because we want them to spend time there first. They need to wake up in the morning and experience the sunrise, they need to be sitting there with a glass of wine watching the sunset; they can't have anyone experience it for them. Then, the islands sell themselves." V U E N J . C O M 92 VUE ON DESIGN & REAL ESTATE

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