If you have ever fancied owning waterfront property but found Australian real estate prices somewhat discouraging, Scotland may have an intriguing alternative.

For about $180,000, you could become the owner of a 1.6-kilometre stretch of shoreline on Loch Ness.

Yes, that Loch Ness.

The one with the monster.

The remarkable parcel of land, known as “The Major’s Mile”, has gone on the market on the northwestern shore of the famous Scottish loch, near Abriachan in Inverness-shire.

And while $180,000 won’t get you terribly far in the Australian property market these days, it will apparently get you a continuous mile of one of the most recognisable waterfronts on Earth.

Offers are being sought above £95,000, or roughly $180,000 Australian.

The property is a long, narrow strip of rugged woodland and shoreline, reportedly around 25 to 35 metres wide in places, with trees, scrub, secluded gravel beaches and natural clearings overlooking the water.

There is no grand Scottish manor included, nor even a modest cottage where you can sit beside the fire and tell increasingly implausible stories about what you saw in the loch that afternoon.

What you do get is privacy, spectacular Highland scenery and salmon fishing rights from one boat.

The land has been held by the same family for decades and is being offered with vacant possession.

According to the listing, the property could appeal to “avid anglers, investors, conservationists, or luxury amenity buyers looking to secure a rare foothold in the Scottish Highlands”.

We would humbly add “people who have always wanted to tell their friends they own part of Loch Ness” to that list.

There is, however, one important piece of fine print.

The sale does not expressly include the bed of Loch Ness itself.

In other words, you can own the shoreline, the trees and the land beneath your feet, but apparently not the mysterious depths beyond it.

Which is probably just as well. Imagine the insurance.

Loch Ness is enormous, containing more water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined, and attracts more than a million visitors each year.

Much of that attention, of course, is thanks to its most famous alleged resident. Stories of a mysterious creature in the loch stretch back centuries, while the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster exploded internationally during the 1930s.

Countless photographs, eyewitness accounts and searches have followed, including Operation Deepscan in 1987, when a fleet of boats equipped with sonar swept the loch looking for something unusually large beneath the surface.

Objects were detected. Nessie, frustratingly, declined to attend the inspection.

The legend has nevertheless proved remarkably durable, and alleged sightings continue to be reported.

For the new owner of The Major’s Mile, that means there is always the possibility of sitting peacefully on your own private patch of Scottish shoreline, fishing rod in hand, when something enormous suddenly breaks the surface.

At which point that $180,000 investment could become considerably more interesting.

Until then, the buyer will have to make do with 1.6 kilometres of Loch Ness frontage, Highland scenery and the knowledge that they have secured a piece of globally famous waterfront for less than the cost of many Australian carparks.

No monster guaranteed. But at this price, you can’t have everything.