Is there a demand for affordable housing in Belize?

The biggest problem is the Belize Government and their chronic inefficiency, everything that involves the government takes a ridiculous amount of time. As an example, you want to buy or sell a house, getting title is taking over a year, and if there is the slightest thing wrong when the Land Office finally look at your file, you can expect 18 months to 2 years.

Things like planning permissions take similar time frames with many taking the risk of building first and hoping they will get permission later.

Your idea to buy and sell would hence take years longer than you would expect in a developed country and the cost of having capital tied up for such long periods of waiting would wipe out profits. Even if you can handle the frustration.

@jaredscott if you're thinking of starting your own home building company, look up the requirements for starting a business in Belize and review the IRS guides on Foreign Earned Income and reporting requirements while living abroad as background info.

Belize instituted their Building Act in 2003 and it has become more restrictive (or better enforced) in the last 10 years, with several updates along the way. The Central Building Authority handles permitting and fees - you can find them at centralbuildingauthority.org. If you stay under 1,000 sq ft and not more than one story you can get around needing a registered Architect or Engineer stamp your plans. The 2003 Water Industry Act created the plumbing code and Belize follows the CARICOM Regional Energy Efficiency Building Code (CREEBC), which is based on the International Energy Conservation Code. Finding a licensed plumber and electrician is fairly easy.

The other hurdle is finding your buyer and educating them on the method of construction.

For what it's worth, many of the prices on real estate sites are aspirational and the properties sit for sale for long periods of time... often years. You can often find more realistic pricing on places like Viviun where there are more for sale by owner ads. https://www.viviun.com/belize-real-estate

Thanks for the info. It looks like have a lot more research to do.