For $4 million, this island off Pender County could be yours

PENDER COUNTY, NC (StarNews) — On a Google map, Lea Island shows no roads, no cities and no landmarks of any kind except this description in red: “Remote habitat with shells and birds.”

This undeveloped sliver of sand endures just south of Topsail Island off the Pender County coast, so isolated that it gets no mention in The Gazetteer — an encyclopedia that includes every North Carolina swamp, creek and flyspeck town.

But Lea Island, where loggerhead turtles outnumber humans, generated considerable buzz in May for real estate reasons: 80 acres of land there — a considerable chunk — went up for sale. With an asking price of $4 million, and the advertisement to “live off the grid,” interest flared quickly.

“Oh my gosh, yes,” said Lois Potratz, a Realtor with Intracoastal Realty, who is handling the sale. “A lot of people want to own an island.”

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