People who love to invest in real estate will be amazed and excited to know that real estate values have gone up by a huge margin in Belize in the past decade and there is no reason to believe that this trend would not continue in a similar manner in the future.
This means that if you are able to somehow purchase real estate in Belize at an affordable and reasonable price, you will be able to make an impressive investment decision that will reap benefits not only in the long and medium term, but also in the short term. Following are some of the tips that should help you in buying real estate in Belize.
The agent
In order to buy real estate it is important to have a real estate agent. This is mainly because the real estate agent has all the information about the properties that are currently on sale and he is basically a gateway towards a world of sellers. In easy words, a real estate agent does the job of bringing together the buyers and sellers, but he will charge commission. It might be a bit difficult to find a really good real estate agent who understands your needs and demands, and you might even meet several agents who pitch the houses to you at exorbitant prices. The best decision in such situations would be to walk away. Perhaps the best way to find a legit real estate agent is to get the one that has a real license to do this job. The license is important since the real estate agents are not regulated at all in Belize and you should get professional help.
Financing
If you are a foreigner, you can easily explore financing options from offshore banks. On average it has been stated that people are able to finance around 50 to 80% of the property at an interest rate that is at most 12%. There are some investors who pay cash right away to get ownership of the real estate, but some do not have enough cash at disposal and have to resort to other financing options. There are some sellers who are kind enough to allow the buyers to purchase the real estate in installments, but in such situations the buyer would still have to pay a lump sum amount upfront, let us say around 40% of the value of the property, and the rest will be paid to the seller in installments in no more than 10 years. In this situation the seller will again charge interest rate that may or may not match the going market rate.
Taxes
The tax situation in Belize is quite relaxed, but still if you want to save up on taxes you can look into investing in rural areas of Belize where taxes are insanely low.