Celebrity Property in Belize
Published on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
If you’re looking for a place to buy a property in 2009, what about Belize? It’s a spectacularly beautiful nation with a fabulous climate, it’s part of the British Commonwealth and English is the main language in Belize, tourism is on the increase, the nation is considered safe and stable – and if all that wasn’t enough to persuade you, what about the fact that it’s a celebrity hotspot?
Not only are Hollywood stars drawn to holiday in Belize, but the likes of Leonardo di Caprio and Francis Ford Coppola already own celebrity property in the nation – and if you buy in, you could literally be rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.
In this article we look at reasons to buy property in Belize including the celebrity factor!
There are an estimated 77 million babyboomers in America who are embarking upon or about to enter into retirement – and thanks to the dire state of the US economy, the way the stock markets have crashed and housing markets across the States are depressed, a new study by Ernst and Young shows that up to 60% of these babyboomers will have to cut their living standards by a quarter if they want to survive in retirement.
You might think that investing in property anywhere in the world right now is tantamount to madness – after all house prices in the US and UK are falling and therefore the value of our equity is on the slide. Added to this it is getting harder and harder to arrange domestic mortgages let alone raise one to buy abroad. But what if I were to tell you that there really is one market in the world where it still makes sense to buy property?
A warning has been issued to would-be buyers of Belizean real estate – be location careful when buying property in Belize, especially if you ever want to resell it! Rather ironically, the issue has been given by a realtor who’s actually attempting to sell a seemingly unsaleable retirement development in Punta Gorda in Belize near the Guatemalan border.
The Belize property market is starting to really boom as Britons, Europeans and North Americans discover the sun drenched wonders and white sandy beaches that this stunning Central American country has to offer. Most who are buying homes in Belize are drawn to the larger resorts and destinations, but slightly off the beaten track there are exciting property bargains galore.
Unlike other nations in central America which at first glance appear to be amazing and liberal and to be exciting property hotspots as well where it’s claimed you as a foreign buyer will be treated the same way as a local buyer - until it comes time to getting a mortgage or getting your residency permissions that is - Belize is actually an affordable, attractive, welcoming and fairly free nation in which to buy property, live, invest, retire or just spend some time.
British, Irish and European property investors looking beyond boring Bulgaria, rundown Romania and turbulent Turkey for an emerging market opportunity where there is actually less risk, more substance and decent long term fundamentals for property price appreciation are now considering Belize. (North American investors reading this may well be sniggering to themselves and saying ‘whatever next, let me guess, they’ll discover real estate in Mexico!’)
