
Ever dreamed of owning an island resort? Well, this may be your best chance. Aussie natives Doug and Sally Beitz began Kosrae Nautilus Resort 24 years ago on Kosrae—the second largest island in Micronesia—and have announced they are ready to pass on the reins to retire back home. But instead of selling it on the market the old-fashioned way, the owners decided to go a different route and are raffling it off—for $49 a ticket.
The husband-and-wife duo moved from Australia to Micronesia in 1991 to start the business. With stable jobs and three young mouths to feed, Doug and Sally knew investing in the hospitality project was a risk, but felt a strong need for a lifestyle change that they would regret not taking. So the family set up camp and opened their 16-room island resort, which has flourished and remains a profitable company today.

So the question is: Why raffle it off? When the Beitz family sat down to figure out the resort’s fate, their oldest son, Adam, came up with the idea that suited their family’s free-spirited personality. “We realized we could give another family, couple, or whoever the chance to live in paradise and own their own business, and it really excited us,” Adam Beitz told Sunrise, an Australian-based news station. “After that, the thought of selling it the traditional way seemed really boring.”

On July 26 at 10 a.m., ticket holders can tune in to the hotel’s Facebook page for a live streaming of the prize draw. The winner will be notified immediately, and once the resort is claimed, it’s right to business. Soon after, the newly deemed owners will shadow the Beitz family in running the business, and then the new digs—and paradise that comes with it—is all theirs.