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Purchase Procedures:
Purchase procedures are similar to the U.S. FIRST - one should
contact a "reputable" realtor. You should seek one who has been in the business
for several years and who is known well in his or her community. Many try and
sell properties on their own without the assistance of a realtor. This is legal
in Belize but not recommended for a buyer. Their are many things that a buyer
should know before investing. Proper procedures should be taken when making a
purchase to insure that there are no future problems concerning the property or
title of interest. Most agents will have a "Listing Authorization Agreement"
with the seller(s). It is your right to request a reading of the agreement. This
agreement will confirm to you that the property is for sale and by whom,
measurements, lot or parcel numbers, asking price, terms ...if any, location of
property to insure that you are looking at the "right property", and length of
agreement. SECOND - Once one has found the correct property
through the agent and is interested in moving forward with the purchase, the
agent should put together a binding "Offer To Purchase". This agreement
is between the seller and buyer and will state the buyer(s), terms if any,
deposits, escrow agent and agent's instructions, closing date, what happens to
deposit if buyer of seller defaults. possession date etc.
Forms Of Titles:
Belize has several forms of titles. 1) Deed of Conveyance - Can be
obscured and should be handled by a reputable law firm for research. 2)
Certificate Of Title - Comes in duplicate forms and should also be handled
by a law firm in Belize. 3) Government Grants - One of the best forms of
ownership but still needs to be handled by law firm. 4) Land Certificate
- Another form of title guaranteed by the government. Governments plan is to
implement this form of title throughout the country. The lot is assigned a
parcel number from the rim. One form document with parcel number and area. Will
state any encumbrances on title.
Legal Assistance:
When retaining an attorney to represent you in a land purchase, most will
charge 2% of the selling price. An abstract report will be given on the property
with recommendation to proceed to closing or not. Lawyers can be found mostly in
Belize City or information operator at 113.
Closing Fees:
Closing fees include; Registration Fees, Filling Fees and Government Stamp
Duty. Stamp Duty - $0 - $10,000 US = Duty Exempt. $10,000 US - UP = 5%. . Registration and Filling fees are usually around a
couple
hundred US$.
Construction Cost:
Construction Cost in the Placencia Area range from $50 - $80 US/per Sq.ft.
$85 - 130US/per Sq. ft. for Higher End construction. i.e., condominiums and
fine homes. Naturally, this range also depends on the quality of "trim work"
involved.
Belize Laws
originally come from the Common Law and English
Statutes of the 19th century. The Law of Property
Act, Chapter 190 is similar to the Real Property Act
1925 of
England
in many ways. Other relevant statutes include the
Registered Land Act, Chp 194 (1977). This statute
governs all land transactions of
Belize.
The Government of
Belize has given its assurance to the investor that
all bonafide developer will encounter no problem in
obtaining license. However, the developer should
contribute for overall development of the land and
the area. If you
are non-Belizean you must obtain permission from the
Minister of Natural Resources, to purchase or hold
land in excess of half an acre in cities or towns or
ten acres outside city or towns limit. Along
with the application a buyer should also submit to
the Minister a "Plan For Development" for which the
land is intended to acquire. If the purchase land is
already a developed land then only a license is
required from the concerned Ministry where the buyer
must declare his intention of buying the land.
Alternatively a foreign buyer can also take land on
lease from the Government with an option to buy
after a specific period of time, which must be
mentioned in the agreement. Government charges a one
percent (1%) tax on the value of land, if the land
is unimproved
and needs
development. If
a property is bought with the intention of first
developing and the selling the same in small lot
after development, then a subdivision permit must be
obtained from Ministry of Natural Resources. Generally
the cost of transfer of title is 10% of the value of
the land for Stamp Duty and a token fee for
registration.
Through the Ministry of Science, Technology
and Transportation, mineral exploration licenses and
mining leases can be obtained after submitting
adequate papers and documents in support of the
project The
Government of Belize has given its assurance to the
investor that all bonafide developer will encounter
no problem in obtaining license. However the
developer should contribute for overall development
of the land and the area. There is a "homesteading"
program that is basically a way for Belizeans to
lease land or a lot for a nominal amount, and, after
they've cleared it and built on the property, can
buy it inexpensively. It is also open to officials
residents who are non-citizens of Belize, but to
become eligible there are other criteria’s which
must be fulfilled in order to apply for this scheme. There
are mainly two types of Land in
Belize.
Which are: 1) Undeclared Land 2) Declared Land.
Changes conducted for
Undeclared Land
in Belize
has to be recorded at the Titles Registry. On the
other hand, transfers done for Declared Lands are to
be registered at the Land registry. Both Registry
offices are located in Belmopan.
The Law of Property Act also allows for
acquisition of property to take place in the
instance that one has settled on a land for more
than 30 years. In addition to mere settlement, one
has to have continuous undisturbed possession of
land for 30 years. If the Supreme Court finds that
possession is established, they may issue a
declaration of Title in respect of said easement,
right or privilege to the individual putting forward
the claim Property purchasers
can take title to freehold property in Belize in
three different ways. They are:
(a)
Deed of Conveyance,
(b)
Transfer of Certificate, and
(c)
Land Certificate.
(a) Deed of Conveyance: It
is the oldest form of title ownership by a Deed of
Conveyance. Ownership by way of conveyance is a
registered right to ownership of property. Ownership
by conveyance can be converted to a Certificate of
Title via an application for first registration. The
subsequent buyer is issued a Transfer Certificate of
Title. However, that a Deed of Conveyance is a valid
legal title once an attorney has confirmed that the
seller has good title to the property.
(b) A Transfer of Certificate:
This type of ownership is secure. A Transfer
Certificate of Title is a physical title to a
particular parcel of land. It is more costly and
time consuming to transfer title on a Transfer
Certificate of Title than Deed of Conveyance.
(c) A Land Certificate: This
is an absolute title and applies to property
purchases in new or specially designated areas. The
Government is in the process of re-registering all
freehold lands under the Registered Land Act of 1987
to achieve an eventual uniform system of nationwide
land ownership. However this process is very time
taking as survey is yet not completed.
The Conveyance or Transfer Exercise
The Conveyance or Transfer exercise commences with
either the Vendor or the purchaser. As the Real
Estate Agent, Buy Belize represents both the Vendor
and Purchaser and guarantees satisfaction to both
parties. The first step while
transferring process is the creation of the Sale
Agreement and Purchase Agreement Contracts. These
contracts full fill the basic terms on which the
property is to be transferred. This agreement is not
always needed for a transfer to take place; however,
it does help to guarantee and expedite the Transfer
to take place. These contracts are not conveyance
documents and do not transfer the property. Next,
if anyone buys Belize Real Estate will carry out the
Title Search Services at the request of the
purchasers. One of our representatives will venture
to
Belmopan
and carry out a search on the property documents.
This will allow us to find out all the information
concerning the property being transferred. This will
be used to discover whether the property has any
license, unpaid taxes, mortgages associated with it.
This search will also allow us to discover whether
or not there are any form of restrictive covenant or
encumbrance in respect of the property for sale.
This is a very time consuming process, which may
take many hours, if not weeks also. The
Ideal arrangements are for the vendor and purchaser
to attain an Attorney together as this can save time
and money. Both vendor and purchaser can have a
single attorney prepare and file the Transfer
documents. Or the Purchaser can have his own
personal attorney over see said documents. This will
be at the purchaser expense only.
The Purchase & Sales Agreement Form should contain the following
details The names
Address and Occupation of both the
parties.
If there is more than one Purchaser, the manner in which
the purchasers will hold the Land as joint Tenants
or Tenants in common. Description of the
Land, dimensions, location and Volume & Folio
numbers of the Title (Registered land only).
Purchase price should be written in figures and words. The
amount or percentage of deposit required from the
purchaser. (Usually 10%) The Balance is
due at the date the Transaction is expected to be
completed. The Purchaser may be liable to
forfeit his deposit if he fails to complete the
purchase at time stated in the agreement. (e.g.)
there can be conflict between making time essence
and other provisions, if therefore both provisions
are to be inserted, they must be skillfully and
carefully worded by an Attorney to avoid conflict.
Our Company will be responsible for preparing,
executing and lodging the Transfer documents and
finalizing it.
Transfer Document
Transfer documents range according to the
details of the property being purchased - whether it
is a declared or undeclared land parcel. This
document includes:
(a)
First Certificate of Title,(b)
Transfer Certificate, (c) Deed of
Conveyance and
(d) Land Certificate. The Company will do the necessary
checks and gather the necessary approvals, which are
necessary to carry out the property transfer. If
there are two or more purchasers, then the document
must state the manner in which the new owners will
hold the property. The
Transfer is usually accompanied by the following The
original Land Title.
Discharge of mortgage or discharge of a charge. Recording
or registration fees and stamp duty.
The company will also ensure that the various
documents are signed and stamped by the Justice of
the Peace in
Belize
when necessary. The Purchasers do not have to be in
the country for the transfer to take place. We will
explain the details of this at our offices in
Belize.
Costs
There are basic minimum costs, which must be met by
both parties when it comes to property transfers in
Belize.
These are: Stamp Duty, Property Taxes, Recording
of Registration Fees, and the Real Estate Company
Expense. The property taxes are to be incurred
by the sellers only. Most of the cost incurred by
the purchaser applies to property recordings,
registration, leases, mortgages and miscellaneous
charges. When purchasing
property in
Belize
there are certain things, which are not required,
which are stated below:
a) Title insurance.
b) Capital gains tax.
c) Stamp Duty is a 5% charge on the
declared purchase price of the property
d) Registration Fee: $15 Bz dollar for the Title
Document
Other services that may bear additional charges
based on the request of the purchaser includes:
(a) Title search,
(b) Valuation report, and
(c) Registration of new mortgage:
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FOREIGN
OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY IN BELIZE
It’s very easy for non-citizens
to buy property in Belize as there are no restrictions
on foreigners owning property
here. Indeed, Belize is one of the easiest countries in
Central America for foreigners to purchase real
estate.
Take taxes, for instance. There
are no capital gains taxes in Belize and property taxes, payable
annually on April 1, are very
low.
A transfer tax, known as Stamp
Duty, is paid by the Buyer upon
closing. This Stamp Tax is only
5% of the property’s value, with
the first $10,000 being exempt
(e.g. if the purchase price is
$100,000, the Buyer would pay
tax on $90,000).
Also, a fixed exchange rate of 1
USD to 2 BZD provides the
advantage of money market
stability without the impact of
fluctuating foreign exchange
rates.
Plus (and this is a real plus),
land title is based on the same
system as in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., giving you
fee simple title to your land.
Belize’s liberal retirement program,
the Qualified Retired Persons
Incentive Program, is touted as
being one of the best in the
world. Overseen by the Belize Tourism Board (versus the
Immigration Department),
foreigners aged 45 and over can
gain special residence status.
Several basic requirements have
to be met including proof of
income.
For Info:
Belize Tourism
Board
P.O. Box 325
Belize City,
Belize,
Central America
Tel: 501-223-1913 or
1-800-624-0686
Fax: 501-223-1943
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