Be your own boss by the beach: Eight properties for sale under $1m

You could work and live across the road from this.

Coastal towns have been the dream go-to destination for city slickers who want to get out of town taking their laptops with them.

However, not all potential sea changers can work from home (or even want to) so buying a business could be the perfect opportunity to discover a new work-life balance.

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And by investing in an already established business you could connect with the local community from day one.

These eight properties, all priced as $1 million or under, just might be the ticket to paradise for regional escapees seeking fun in the sun – while they’re at work.

Ice cream in Queenscliff, Victoria

Price: $600,000 to $800,000

This ice cream shop currently on a long-term lease could be the ideal scoop for a savvy investor. Picture: Supplied

A sweet opportunity to own a historic Queenscliff icon on Hesse St, this listing is a freehold investment opportunity only two streets back from the waterfront.

Currently housing a popular, long established ice cream business with a long-term lease arrangement this building could earn investors about $33,000 a year, while also getting a scoop on the booming tourist-friendly property market.

Almost guaranteed a regular trade, the property sits surrounded by booming businesses including bookshops, art galleries, cafe and fashion boutiques.

The blue ribbon site also benefits from strong tourist numbers coming in on the via the Searoad Ferries’ hourly services.

Motel in Port Neil, South Australia

Price: $675,000

A motel with further renovation potential in a South Australian seaside town could be the right fit for anyone looking to dip their toes in the hospitality waters.

Fans of Netflix series Motel Makeover and Stay Here will appreciate the potential of a coastal motel as a blank canvas.

This four-unit motel in the sleepy seaside town of Port Neil, north of Port Lincoln, is perhaps the perfect launch pad for uninitiated hospitality hopefuls.

Sitting on a 2027 sqm – a large part of which is undeveloped land out the back – this property is only 150m from the foreshore and town jetty.

Operating as Henleys Holiday Flats since 1977, the self-contained studios have been recently updated with new carpet and blinds, and each feature a small veranda, gas barbecues, and reverse cycle airconditioning.

Port Neill itself is home to around 200 people with a primary school, petrol station, and general store with post office. The property comes fully furnished with a Toyota Landcruiser thrown in.

Pumping petrol in Salamandar Bay, NSW

Price guide: $900,000

Currently a petrol station and garage, this Salamandar Bay property has plenty going for it as a future development site streets away from the water’s edge. Picture: Supplied

Part petrol station, part workshop, this unique dual frontage site in Salamander Bay could be the ideal location for a city slicker looking to drive their business towards a sea change.

The Orr family, current owners of the Salamandar Service Station, have been on site for the past 20 years.

Placed just 114m from the water’; s edge of Wanda Beach in beautiful Port Stephens, the 570sq m property is ready for the next custodian to walk right in and get their hands dirty.

It includes underground fuel tanks, a three-bay mechanical workshop with hoists, a shopfront with office and amenities plus a secure rear storage yard.

The precinct is home to cafes, restaurants, a pharmacy, a hair and beauty salon, medical facilities, a bakery, a bottle shop and a butcher with Salamander Central Shopping Centre down the road.

Marina in Rainbow Beach, Queensland

Price guide: $1 million + GST

Buyers looking to set sail for a sea change could consider a marina in Queensland’s Rainbow Beach. Picture: Supplied

If boats are your thing, then this listing is where you should sink your anchor.

An integrated marina complex in the World Heritage listed Fraser Island region, this property is being sold as a going concern with a licensed restaurant and bar, kiosk, charter office, and an eight-berth marina all in one.

Currently this is the only marina development rezoned and approved for licensed premises in the area.

Today the business, which is 70kms north of Gympie, operates as a base for deep-sea fishing charters and the Dolphin Ferry Cruise boat, as well as a marina for private vessels. Anyone keen to start their own charter boat, fishing or canoe business.

The Skipper’s Bar and Quay Carlo restaurant has a fully-equipped commercial kitchen seating 80 and is currently in the middle of a three-year lease.

The on-site kiosk is set up for serving takeaway ice creams and drinks.

Bar and bistro in Saunders Beach, Queensland

Price guide: $345,000

With a regular cliental already won over by this cute bar and bistro in Tassie, the hard work has already been done. Picture: Supplied

For the price of a carparking space in inner Sydney, this little bar and bistro could be the budget sea change opportunity of a lifetime just outside of Townsville.

The Saunders Beach Bar and Bistro, which has a full commercial grade kitchen and a dining room fit out for 60, has been established for 10 years and in that time has built up a devoted cliental of locals and regular holiday-makers.

The added bonus is the beachside property even comes with a two-bedroom freestanding home to round out the work life balance only metres from the water’s edge.

Saunders Beach sits southeast of the mouth of Althaus Creek along a 6kms stretch of pristine beach.

Fish and chips Bicheno, Tasmania

Price guide: More than $420,000

Beachside businesses could be the ticket to an idyllic work-life balance. Picture: Supplied

A seaside chippie in a quiet Tassie town could just be the perfect place to wind down. Right in the heart of Bicheno neighbouring the popular local bakery, chemist and Log Cabin General Store, this little shop is a locals’ go-to for eat-in or alfresco fish and chips.

Positioned on 141sq m of land with an internal 95sq m footprint, Salty Splash is a short walk to both Waubs Beach and Whalers Lookout Reserve.

Bicheno itself is on Tasmania’s beautiful east coast tourist path with a growing permanent cohort of permanent residence drawn to area thanks to a temperate climate plus great surfing, diving, stunning national parks and an adorable population of fairy penguins.

Dive centre in Arcadia, Queensland

Price: $900,000

Imagine waking up to this in your back yard

Seeking a legitimate reason to take the plunge into a permanent island getaway on the Great Barrier Reef?

Located in Arcadia on a freehold 1311sq m block with an ocean view frontage onto Geoffrey Bay, this Magnetic Bay investment opportunity has an established dive business as a tenant earning the landlord approximately $33,000 a year until 2025.

An established dive centre has been operating from this spot on Magnetic Island for several years and now the building is for sale. Picture: Supplied

After that the large block, which currently features the shop, an in-ground pool and onsite parking, might have just the right redevelopment potential to tap into the roaring tourist trade given its highly sought after waterfront position less than a five-minute walk to picturesque Alma Bay.

Everything is on the doorstep including supermarkets, a chemist, medical clinic, primary school, and the ferry terminal with a regular service to Townsville.

Butcher shop in Scotts Head, NSW

Price guide: $400,000

Perhaps one of the prettiest hidden gems on the NSW Mid North Coast, Scotts Head is currently on the look out for someone to stake their claim on the local butcher business.

For anyone who enjoys throwing a snag on the barbie during their beachside holidays, why not make it a full time thing by taking up the local butcher shop in the tightly held town of Scotts Head on the Mind North Coast of NSW.

This is an opportunity to buy a fully operational retail shop and business located in the centre of the iconic coastal spot only minuets from Macksville and less than an hour from Coffs Harbour and its major regional airport.

A ground floor strata unit measuring 51sq m, this property is the only butcher in the village, with all necessary plant and equipment, including cooling and storage rooms as well as a refrigerated ute, thrown into the walk-in-walk-out sale.

It sits next to the Scotts Head shopping strip and opposite the local caravan park so it’s already got the cliental built in.