Top tips for buying real estate in Belize

Belize is a classic mezzo market - not quite emerging and also not quite developed. This puts it in an interesting spot on the emerging market property cycle.

Emerging markets right at the beginning of a postive price trend attract speculators who are looking for a flip. They tend not to be interested in community or ameneites or enjoying a lifestyle in the country. These tend to be riskier investments attracting only those with a strondg speculator's stomach. Markets like Belize that are more developed (but still emerging) still offer the potential for quich appreciation but within a lower overall risk environment. And to boot - Belize is a place that you can enjoy now.

Here is a shopping list of reasons that make Belize special:

Its spectacular natural beauty and tremendous diversity. Put simply, visitors fall in love with Belize because it is one of the most stunningly beautiful countries in the world.

Proximity to the US and the fact that it is the only English speaking country in Central America.

The country boasts the strongest tourism trend in Central America. This bodes well for the real estate investor as real estate market appreciation and growth in visitor numbers are often closely correlated.

Belize is one of the top 10 diving destinations in the world with a coral barrier reef second in size only to Australia running the length of its coastline. .

Belize is just being discovered as the "New Caribbean" the most ecologically natural and least developed island paradise in the Caribbean priced far below comparable Caribbean real estate.

The "celebrity factor" with US celebrities such as Leonardo di Caprio and Francis Ford Coppola developing properties in-country. Ambergris Caye has been a film location for "Temptation Island" and the island behind the Madonna song: "Tropical island breeze...all of nature wild and free, la Isla Bonita."

Facilitative taxation frameworks with no capital gains or inheritance taxes as well as the availability of private off-shore banking services.

A sense of stability - a currency pegged to the US dollar, a tradition of democracy and a reassuringly stable political climate. Belize is a member of the British Commonwealth and has a legal system based on British law.