Ever have a fantasy about ditching your city life and setting up shop in one of the cosy cottages on the Toronto Islands? It’s quiet, you can watch the sun set from the beach, and you’re only a 15-minute ferry ride from downtown. Best of all, there’s no traffic. Paradise, right?

But with fewer than 300 homes on the Island, stock is limited. And unless you know someone who knows someone whose brother’s cousin is an Islander and can vouch for you, homeowners may not be willing to hand over their keys.

Fellow landlocked Torontonian Sara Krynitzki can tell you all about it. She had hoped to spend anywhere from a few weeks to a few months on the Islands this summer, and would have been happy to commute via ferry to her downtown office.

She posted a rental query ad on the Toronto Islands message boarded, but after a few months of nothing but crickets, she gave up. She will instead be vacationing on the Georgian Bay this year.

“The main problem is that I don’t know anyone who owns property on the Island,” Krynitzki said. “Given the size of the community and small number of houses (there) ... we did know it was a long shot.”

And it does seem Islanders are more willing to rent to those they know. A rental ad on the Toronto Islands website posted in July noted “Persons with island references preferred,” and another from June was more blunt, with “Island references required.”

However, Robin Edger had more luck. After a homeowner took a chance on him and his wife, the couple were able to secure an 18-month stay on the Islands, which they just wrapped up.

They ironically found their first rental — a short stay in a split-level apartment for $1,550 a month — through a link in an article about how difficult it is to buy a home there.

“We contacted the people who own the place, went to meet them and look at it, and mutually agreed to rent from them for the winter,” Edger said.

From there, they immersed themselves in the community, attending local events like the annual blessing of animals, the bicycles and boats and strawberry social at St. Andrew by-the-Lake Church, and art showings at the Rectory Café.

“We met the (next) couple we rented from at the New Year’s Eve dinner and dance at the Algonquin Island Association. They had heard through other islanders that we were looking to rent. They were looking to rent their place for the year, so when we met them there they offered us their place.”

“It felt like living in a fairy tale,” Edgar said of his stay on the Islands. “Everyone was really welcoming.”

Bryan Young, who has been renting homes part-time on the Islands for more than a decade, agreed that you really do need to build a network of contacts with the locals before doors will start opening to you as a renter.

Another factor that makes renting difficult, he added, is that homeowners are technically not allowed to sublet their places for long periods of time.

This is where it gets complicated, so bear with me. In a nutshell, the land on which Islanders’ homes sit is publicly owned, and homeowners must lease their lots from an entity called the Toronto Island Land Trust.

Property owners are required to make that home their primary year-round residence, and may not use it as rental property. There are, however, provisions in the lease permitting limited rentals, so while there are a handful of B&Bs where you can find a single room for a short stay, finding somewhere to stay for weeks, months or years is much harder.

Young said the best way to find a place is to start with a short-term B&B or Airbnb, and work to build up a network of contacts from there.

“What’s interesting is how one good tenancy leads to another,” he said. “An Islander then recommends you to another et voilà — a network has started.”

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So spend a weekend on the Islands, immerse yourself in the community, talk to the neighbours, and be open to the idea of renting off-season.

“Winter is a very unique time to be there,” said Young. “When it’s snowy and cold, if the house is properly heated, it’s a wonderland. Groceries are a pain in the royal butt and the ferries can be a (hassle), but it can be a magical time to be there.”

FACT BOX

The purchase price of the one-time lease is around $50,000 on Wards Island and $66,000 on Algonquin Island.

Sales are regulated by the Island Trust, which creates a waiting list for potential purchasers of Island homes. The list was established in February, 1994. The maximum number of names on the List is 500.

By law, homes and leases can only be sold to people on the list. The list is currently at its maximum, and is reopened whenever space permits, generally once a year. Names are added to the end of the list by a draw.