“I like speaking English.”

Why

Choose Belize? Mother Nature' Best Kept Secret

You can be anywhere in the world, but you came to Belize… Over the years, author Lan Sluder, has interviewed, talked

with or heard from via e-mail, hundreds of people who have

moved to Belize or who plan to do so. He asked them this

question: “Why did you choose Belize?” He has gotten many

answers to that question, but the following are the most

common:

W W W . B E L I Z E I S L A N D R E A L E S T A T E . C O M

“I love the warm climate.”

It never frosts or snows in Belize. The climate ranges from sub-tropical to tropical, similar to that of South Florida. As long as you’re comfortable with warm to hot temperatures, perhaps tempered by cooling breezes from the sea, you’ll like Belize weather. As a bonus, you’ll never have to pay for heating oil again.

You don’t have to learn a new language to live in Belize,

because English is the official language. You don’t have to

struggle with grammar and syntax in an unfamiliar tongue.

While Spanish and several other languages are widely spoken

in Belize, and many Belizeans are bi- or trilingual, everything

from street signs and newspapers to official government

documents are in English. From your first day in Belize, you can

shop, dine, chat and gossip without having to thumb through

a dictionary or cast about for the right verb ending.

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WHY CHOOSE BELIZE? WWW.BELIZEISLANDSREALESTATE.COM

“I feel welcome here.”

“I enjoy the lifestyle here, doing things outdoors and on the water.” Belize offers relatively little in the way of cultural

activities — museums, art galleries, the arts. But it

makes up for it with a wealth of options for those

who love the outdoors. You can garden year-round.

The saltwater fishing is some of the best in the world.

Boating, diving, swimming and snorkeling can be as

close as your back yard. For the more adventurous,

there are caves and ancient ruins to explore, rivers

to canoe and mountains to hike.

Belize is not a Never-Never Land where everyone

loves everybody in perfect harmony, but the fact is,

by and large, Belizeans are as friendly a bunch of

people as you’ll ever find. Belizeans take people

one at a time. Whether you’re black, white, brown

or green, short, fat, ugly or beautiful, rich or poor,

you’ll find acceptance in Belize. Your neighbors will

say hello to you on the street, check on you if you’re

sick and share a joke with you over a Belikin at the

bar. And they may try to hit you up for a loan. For

the most part, Belizeans genuinely like Americans

(and Canadians and Europeans). At the official

level, the Belize government welcomes retirees and

others, especially if they bring some resources to the

country. The Qualified Retired Persons Incentive

Program is administered not by a bureaucratic

immigration department but by the Belize Tourist

Board, and they often provide approvals within a

few weeks.

“I can live better here for less money than where I came from.” Belize is not the cheapest place to live, and in some areas of Belize an American lifestyle will cost

U.S. prices or higher. Overall, however, expats in Belize say they can live larger than back home,

enjoying some luxuries such as a housekeeper or meals out. Investment income, pensions and

Social Security checks seem to stretch a little farther in Belize. While some items such as gasoline,

imported foods and electricity cost more in Belize, other things including medical care, housing,

insurance and household help are significantly cheaper in Belize than in the U.S., Canada or

Western Europe.

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WHY CHOOSE BELIZE? WWW.BELIZEISLANDSREALESTATE.COM

“I like living on Belize time.” Like many sub-tropical and tropical countries,

Belize offers a slower way of life than the

frenetic pace of life in many more developed

countries. If you don’t get it done today,

there’s always tomorrow. Slow down. Be cool.

Don’t make your blood boil. ―I’ll be here at

7:30 Monday morningǁ‖ really means, ―I’ll try

to get there early Monday but if I decide to

go fishing I’ll be there sometime Tuesday.ǁ‖ Not

everyone can adjust to this way of living, but for those who do it has a lot of appeal.

“I like the people of Belize.”

“I feel healthier here.” Belize does not have the high-tech, state-of-the-art medical care available in the U.S. or even in countries like Costa Rica or Panama. But the

Belizean lifestyle can be very healthful. You eat fresh fruit and unprocessed food. You walk more and ride less. You stay outside in the clean, unpolluted air rather than being cooped up in a

climate-controlled box all day. You go home for lunch or take a nap at mid-day. In Belize’s balmy climate, your arthritis and other aches and pains

seem to fade away. Many people who move to Belize start feeling better within a few weeks. Quite a few lose weight. Blood pressure levels go down.

Of course, you can also live an unhealthy life in Belize — watching cable TV all day, drinking all night and eating fried foods and lardy beans and

rice.

If you’re a people person, you can’t help liking

Belizeans. Belizeans come in every shape,

background and color, but nearly all are open

and friendly. They love to have fun, and there’s

always an excuse for a party or a celebration.

Expats in Belize are also an interesting bunch,

usually with an independent streak and sometimes

downright eccentric.

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WHY CHOOSE BELIZE? WWW.BELIZEISLANDSREALESTATE.COM

“There’s always something to do or see here.” If you’re bored in Belize, it’s your own fault. Belize is a

natural wonder. You could spend the rest of your life

just learning about the flora and fauna of the

country. Belize is home to thousands of species of

trees and flowers, hundreds of kinds of birds and

butterflies. The culture of Belize is wide and deep.

The history of the Maya in Belize goes back

thousands of years. Garifuna came to Belize in the

early 1800s; Hispanics have trickled in over the past

several hundred years; Mennonites came here in the

1950s. Every group in Belize has a fascinating history

to explore. When you tire of intellectual pursuits, you

can take trips to the enchanting corners of the

country, to the high hills of the Mountain Pine Ridge,

to the endless caves of the Chiquibul wilderness, to

the lush rainforest of Toledo, to the many islands in

the Caribbean Sea and to the 190-mile long Belize Barrier Reef.

“ I thought I could never afford to live on the beach… but I can in Belize.”

If you’ve seen the prices for

beachfront lots in Florida, South

Carolina, Massachusetts or California

– often hundreds of thousands, even

millions of dollars – you know that

oceanfront living in the U.S. is out of

the question for most people. In

Belize, beachfront lots aren’t as

cheap as they used to be, or as

cheap as they still are in places like

Nicaragua or Panama, but you can

still buy a buildable lot on the

Caribbean for a very affordable price.

“I appreciate the fact that Belize has a stable, democratic government.” You don’t have to worry about a coup in Belize.

Politics in Belize is highly personal and can be rough

and tumble, even dirty, but Belizeans take their

democracy seriously. The voter turnout in the last

national election was almost 80%. Along with Costa

Rica, Belize has the most stable political system in the region.

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WHY CHOOSE BELIZE? WWW.BELIZEISLANDSREALESTATE.COM

“I’m glad I escaped from America’s Consumer society.”

In Belize, you won’t find Starbucks,

McDonald’s or Wal-Mart. Global franchise

businesses are almost unknown. That can be

frustrating when you’re trying to find a cheap

home appliance or a quick meal, but on the

plus side you don’t need to spend your life

accumulating stuff.

“I like the wide open spaces of Belize.”

With only 266,000 people in an area the size

of the state of Massachusetts (population:

6,400,000), Belize is one of the least densely

populated countries in the Western

Hemisphere. Outside the cities and towns,

you can often drive for miles without seeing

another human being. In that regard, Belize is

like a little, subtropical Alaska. Or like Florida 50 or 60 years ago.

“I don’t have to worry about losing my property here.”

Property rights are protected in Belize through the traditions of English Common Law. In some

countries, if you leave your house or land unoccupied, squatters can move in, and it’s almost

impossible to get them out. Legal documents may be written in a language you don’t understand.

Powerful local interests can take your property through tricky legal — or illegal — means. In many

parts of Latin America and Europe, the legal system is Civil Law based in some cases on the

Napoleonic Code, very different from the system in the United States. But Belize shares with

America, Canada and the United Kingdom a legal system based on English Common Law. In

Belize, private property is respected and protected. Foreigners can own property virtually

anywhere in Belize, with exactly the same rights and protections as exist for Belizeans. The Belize

legal system isn’t perfect, and lawyers in Belize are almost as costly as those in the U.S., but it’s a far better system than, for example, in Mexico or Honduras.

“The U.S. dollar is accepted everywhere in Belize.” Belize has its own currency, the Belize dollar, so technically the American greenback is not the

official monetary unit of the country. As a practical matter, though, the U.S. dollar is accepted

anywhere and everywhere in Belize, and the Belize dollar has been pegged for decades at the

rate of 2 Belize to 1 U.S. dollar. Anything of substantial value, such as real estate, is priced in U.S.

dollars. This means that prices in Belize are more stable for American dollar holders than they

would be if the Belizean currency floated against the dollar. It also means that in periods such as

2003 when the value of the U.S. dollar declined sharply against the Euro, yen, D-mark and many

other hard currencies, prices in Belize remained about the same as always for Americans.

(Conversely, of course, during periods of appreciation of the value of the U.S. dollar, prices in

Belize do not become cheaper for U.S. dollar holders.)

Convinced Yet? For lots more information and to learn about investment opportunities in Belize, contact:

Dennis J. Kay II

Click any social media icon to go to my page

Office (011)-501-226-4400 Cell (011)-501-632-6398

WHY CHOOSE BELIZE? WWW.BELIZEISLANDSREALESTATE.COM

www.BelizeIslandsRealEstate.com