26th Jul 2010
Belize: The Downsides?
In this article we not going to focus only on the positives. Our aim is to give you a sense of Belize without the optimistic spin. Of course we love Belize and think it’s a great place to live and invest, but for many their transition would be easier if they got to grips with some of the downsides.
- Belize has bugs: Scorpions, snakes, sand flies and mosquitoes. Now these come and go and not all places are affected, but it’s probably safe to say that you’ll see more creepy crawlies than you would back home.
- If you’re away from the big tourism spots (think Ambergris Caye) of the capital you may find grocery stores missing products that you take for granted. For example fine French wines, Italian cheese, cured meats, brown rice, quality breads and so forth, can be hard to find in the more remote areas of the country.
- Belize is located in the Hurricane belt. But you’ll be pleased to know that construction standards have greatly improved in recent years and hurricane insurance policies are available.
- There is no Multiple Listing Service in Belize so it can be hard to get a handle on everything there is for sale on the market in an efficient manner. You can’t rely one one single source for information to find all the real estate for sale in Belize. You’ll have to take on some legwork yourself and build your own network of contacts who can provide you with information on the market.
- Official property data is not published in Belize. You wont be able to find comprehensive data on sales, transactions and price trends. The good news is that new information sources are appearing online. For example the overseas property site Reveal Real Estate tracks asking prices in real estate developments, condo projects and master planned communities across the country.
- Belize is a developing country so you will see signs of poverty.
- Services such as garbage collection can be patchy resulting in litter being left on the ground, particularly in areas not very frequented by tourists.
Before we get too sidetracked by the drawbacks we must remember that Belize is a beautiful country that serves up a classic, picture-postcard Caribbean experience. The largest barrier reef in the hemisphere runs along its coastline attracting divers from around the world. And as an English speaking country (the only one in Central America for that matter), visitors trend to fit in quickly and adjust to the lifestyle easily.
Other articles you might like;
Leave a Reply