California man buys a private island for $31,000 because it's cheaper than a house deposit in US
A 24-year-old man ditched his life in America to buy a Finnish island and live in peace. Oliver Russel, who has dual citizenship, snapped up the landmass for just $31,000, per SWNS. This was less than the median downpayment of $34,000 that Americans paid last year, as per Statista. Russell along with his girlfriend is now building a home on the island. He shared their journey on their YouTube channel Off Grid Island.
Living the dream
Russell, who is from Laguna Beach, California, has both American and Finnish roots. He used to spend his summers in Finland with his family while he lived in the US. However, when he moved to Colorado in 2020, he faced steep tuition fees, which forced him to look for alternative places to study. He then considered going to Helsinki for studies, and he made the move in August 2022.
The international business student told SWNS that he fell in love with the idea of going to Finland and thanks to his citizenship, he could get free education while living the local way.
He then met his partner, Helena Tomaszewska, 20, and together they set out to look for their future home. While looking through a property website, they came across the 2.5-acre island. By March 2024, they invested about $31,000 (€28,000) into their own paradise.
They stepped foot on the island for the first time in June 2024, when the land was completely covered in trees, and moss and appeared mostly uninhabitable. The land was ripe for transformation and the pair promptly got to work. They first cut down trees to make a tent for shelter and cleared up space to install a wooden deck.
"I loved the summer cottage life and wanted one of my own. Every time we go to the island it doesn't feel real that it is ours - it is so nice to be out there," he told SWNS. He also shared that they immediately jumped on the property and their very first offer was accepted. However, on TikTok he explained that the island was classified as a holiday lot, so they won't be living there full time.
@off.grid.island Hey! I’m Oliver and I bought an island in Finland. A lot of people have been asking who am I, where I’m from and why did I buy an island. This is a little different than all of our other videos, but I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself. I’m Finnish American and I live in Finland. I have also lived in the US growing up. I am doing this entire process with my girlfriend Helena, she is filming and editing all the videos you see. I bought an island because, surprisingly, islands are often cheaper than normal holidays lots here. Im assuming the reason for that is because it is a lot harder to transport materials and build on them. I never thought this would be possible, I have always dreamed of having my own island but have never found one until now. I found it on a Finnish real estate website - Oikotie. The process was pretty simple, I think it is like any other real estate transaction in Finland. I saw the listing, contacted the agent and visited the island during the winter. I liked it so I put in an offer, and after negotiations, we finally agreed on a price. Later, I got the island transferred into my name and I could officially call it mine. Thank you all for following, commenting, and giving us tips. We are still very early in the process and we would have never expected so many people watching us turn the island into our dream cottage. We want to post our progress as often as possible, but there is only the two of us and we can only go to the island so much. #finland #nordic #outdoors #offgrid #offgridliving #offgridlife #logcabin #logcabins #island #islandlife #islandliving #offgridisland #wood #woodworker #woodworking ♬ original sound - Off Grid Island 🌲
Putting in the work
He explained that building a home on the island has been labor intensive, and shipping stuff is tough too as they only have a row boat. According to their YouTube videos, the couple has so far built a place to sleep, a log wood deck, installed an outhouse bathroom, and built a shower.
He shared in his progress video that for the winters he plans to collect all the logs he can for heat, and have running water on the island. Russell has also shared that they further plan to build a wooden cabin next summer and build a floating deck to transport more stuff to the island. However, he also confessed that he has no prior experience of constructing anything.
"We want to build a sauna cabin - based on the rules, one-third of the plot has to be a sauna cabin," he shared with SWNS.
While it has been challenging the duo said that they are fully committed to tackling the challenges hands-on. Russell said that their educational commitments were very big. However, the duo said they are having a bunch of fun doing things they never did before.
