Top 2 Questions I'm Asked About Sanctuary Belize

I've spoken to a number of potential Sanctuary Belize investors over the past year and two questions consistently come up at some point during our conversation: 

1. Have I seen evidence of the community progressing according to the plan?

2. Do I trust the management team to deliver?

For anyone contemplating investing in Sanctuary Belize I thought that it may be worth while sharing my perspective on these two important questions.

1. Have I seen evidence of the community progressing according to the plan?

The answer to this question is "Yes" and here are a few examples of the progress:

Opening of Phase 2

Although the recent financial crisis has shaken the US real estate market the Sanctuary Belize community has continued to flourish.  Prices for lots have continued to steadily increase since I invested in my property (lot 13)  and the Sanctuary Belize management team has been able to stick to their original plan and open Phase 2 of the development.   Phase 2 includes waterfront properties that look simply awesome.  Some factors that I think are contributing to the strong demand and their ability to stay on plan with Phase 2 are:

• There is continued demand for properties nestled in outstanding locations.  To me, proximity to the Caribbean Sea, the rainforest, and the near by mountains is the essence of the phrase "location, location, location". Based on the natural elements of Sanctuary Belize the community has high intrinsic value and people realize this despite the economic downturn.

• Americans and Canadians are looking abroad for sound real estate investments beyond the borders of the US due to the instability in the US housing market.  Many are turning to the Caribbean and Latin America and are discovering countries like Belize and finding communities like Sanctuary Belize.  This is creating strong demand for premium properties like Sanctuary Belize.

Coupled, these factors seemed to have enabled the Sanctuary Belize team to continue to expand according to the Sanctuary Belize Master plan.

Homes Are Being Built

Several months ago the Sanctuary Belize team released a series of home designs and I was impressed with what I saw.  The bamboo designs seemed to be a good compliment between luxury and eco-friendliness and I look forward to being able to customize one of these designs over the coming years. If you haven't seen the designs let me know or contact the Sanctuary Belize team.  Already one private home has been constructed and I was informed that five other orders for homes have been received and construction will begin this year.  The community is GROWING.

The Marina

The Sanctuary Belize Marina is going to be nothing less than amazing!  The plans for the Marina are top notch and the good news is that the management team is bringing these plans to life.  As can be expected, the plans for the Marina span multiple years and the team is making good progress.  Recently, the development team successfully carved a 30 ft wide channel connecting the Marina to Sapodilla Lagoon and now people can navigate a boat between the Lagoon and the Caribbean Sea. With this milestone in place the team is going to be expanding the channel to 60 ft.  The dredging of the Marina Basin continues to progress and it is scheduled to be completed within the next quarter. 

Roads

All the major roads where in place when I visited Sanctuary Belize and recently I learned that the roads to Marina Island and Waterway Village have been completed. The roads within Waterway Village are currently in development.

So from my perspective, I've seen the Management Team create a vision, build a plan, and achieve some significant milestones.  In addition, while executing the plan, Sanctuary Belize has continued to generate strong demand for properties and I've seen the value of my land increase.  

2. Do I trust the management team to deliver?

The answer to this question is "Yes" as well.  For those of you who have met John Usher - you'll know what I mean - but the owner is fully committed to making Sanctuary Belize a resounding success.  John and his family live on site and he is personally managing the day-to-day operations of the project.  I think the milestones listed above are an indication of John's commitment to bringing the vision to life and his ability to get the job done.  I'm sure there are going to be some bumps along the way - there always are - but John and the team seem to be able to navigate the project well and keep the Community progressing.

If this type of information is of value to you please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me and I'll continue to provide some updates like this one.  Just let me know!

President Obama and Belize!

Two recent events relating to US President Obama underline the growing importance of Belize. One is his desire to visit Belize expressed at the Summit of the Americas dinner in Port of Spain. Belize’s Prime Minister Dean Barrow seems to have established a good rapport with the President at the summit and he quoted the latter as expressing his wish to visit Belize. President Obama is photographed welcoming the Prime Minister’s wife, Kim Simplis-Barrow in the accompany photo. The visit will be further facilitated by the recent appointment of the President’s friend as the U.S. ambassador to Belize.

Vinai Thummalapally, apparently a very good friend of President Obama, was recently appointed as the ambassador to Belize. Ambassador Thummalapally was a college mate & close confidante of the President for a many years. He is a mechanical engineer by qualification and was president of MAMA Inc, a maker and distributor of recordable optical disks. He formally presented his credentials to Governor General of Belize, Sir Colville Young and also paid a courtesy call to the Foreign Affairs Minister,Wilfred Elrington, last September at Belmopan, Belize’s capital city.

The fact that President Obama has chosen one of his close confidantes as ambassador to Belize can only help raise the profile of Belize and his future visit to Belize will no doubt attract international media attention and put Belize firmly on the world’s tourist map. Exposure like this is great for all investors in Belize.

Chris

John & Sandy Adkins - A New Owner Profile

Hey everyone! I’m in the process of reaching out to other Sanctuary Bay property owners and interviewing them for my blog. I thought that it may be a nice touch to share other people’s Sanctuary Bay stories with the community as well as mine. To kick things off with this new blog feature I had the chance to interview John and Sandy Adkins from Arizona who recently purchased Lot 105.

So why Belize?

John and Sandy Adkins, like many Sanctuary Bay owners, had pictured a lifestyle that allowed them to split their time between their home in Arizona and a second home in the Caribbean or Central America. The idea initially came to them

while they were on holidays a few years back in Costa Rica. After exploring some Costa Rican real estate opportunities they felt that Costa Rica was overpriced and decided to wait until the right opportunity emerged. The idea of investing in Central America was revived after a few years while on a scuba diving trip to Roatan, Honduras. They decided to explore real estate opportunities in the greater Central American area by surfing the Internet and they discovered Sanctuary Bay in Belize. To John and Sandy, Belize offered an undervalued real estate market, untouched natural beauty, access to world famous scuba diving, and chance to live amongst some of the most friendly people in the world.

Why Sanctuary Bay?

Sanctuary Bay offers the type of lifestyle that John and Sandy want for themselves and for their 10 year and 6 year old. They felt that the large lot sizes at Sanctuary Bay were a key differentiator when comparing Sanctuary Bay to other expat communities in Central America. For John and Sandy the large lots at Sanctuary Bay create the opportunity for their family to truly enjoy the natural surroundings of Belize. In addition, they were impressed by the Sanctuary Bay Master Plan and in particular they plan to enjoy the Marina and the vast amounts of conservation areas. Lastly, to the Adkins it’s a real treat to have the world class diving so close by.

First Impressions of Sanctuary Bay?

When the Adkins visited Sanctuary Bay for the first time they felt that Bill Bannon, Director of Operations at Sanctuary Bay, had properly set their expectations so they had an idea of what to expect. “To be honest, we weren’t expecting too much since we knew that Sanctuary Bay was in phase 1 of its development”. They had also been to Belize before so they knew what to expect from Belize’s pristine environment, great weather, and overall economic environment. The factor that stood out most for John and Sandy and influenced their purchase decision was John Usher - which is something that I hear time and time again from other investors. The Adkins’ explained that John Usher’s, the President of the Sanctuary Bay, passion and drive” is admirable and will be factor that makes Sanctuary Bay a community that will stand out from others”.

Hey ... so what are your plans?

John and Sandy are in the process of moving their construction business from Arizona to Sanctuary Bay this Fall and will build their home on Lot 105. They feel that it makes perfect sense to expand their business to a market that is continuing to grow relative to the Arizona real estate market which has been significantly impacted by the recession. If you are interested in learning more about John and Sandy’s business please feel free to send me an email and I’ll pass your contact information on to the Adkins. Their website will be up and running soon and I’ll share the link with everyone once it is live.

The Adkins -like many of the Sanctuary Bay investors- plan to split their time between North America and Belize and enjoy an an ‘outdoorzzzzy’ lifestyle in one of the planet’s most beautiful countries. Sandy explains that on the top of their to-do list are things like scuba diving, horseback riding, hiking, and enjoying the company of some of the ‘nicest people’ in the world.

Chris

An Awesome Jaguar Reserve Video

One of Belize's great treasures is the Jaguar Reserve which is in Cockscomb -- not too far from Sanctuary Bay. The Reserve has been around for more than 20 years and is the only one in the world. The video is a high quality video that illustrates the beauty of Belize. It's certainly worth taking the 3 1/2 minutes to view it.

-Chris

A FUN Lonely Planet Video on Belize

Hi everyone. A few people contacted me recently and asked if I could recommend some Belize videos to them. I actually have a bunch of YouTube videos that I checked out in the past when making my decision to invest in Sanctuary Bay and I thought that I would start sharing some of them with the greater community.

I got a 'kick' out of this Lonely Planet video on Belize and I wanted to share it with you. The dudes who made this did a GREAT job.

Chris

Ocean Home Magazine profiles Sanctuary Bay

Sanctuary Bay was highlighted in Ocean Home Magazine earlier this year and I wanted to share the article with you. In the story John Usher, the President of the Sanctuary Bay project, shares his mission statement for Sanctuary Bay with the reporter:

“Our mission is to preserve this piece of paradise by building high-quality resort living while leaving behind a minimal environmental footprint. As such, we chose to develop only a small fraction of the 14,000 acres, and leave six-and-a-half of the seven miles of coastline untouched.”

Link to article:

http://oceanhomemag.com/sanctuary-bay/