Sanctuary Belize

Lucky Larry,

Thanks for the geo lesson.  I have not yet decided where I will ultimately end up.  Having visited SB and meeting at least one of the principles, my concerns are not related to the geography.  My previous posts provide a reasonable outline of my SB concerns.

BB

With the new information posted from people who have just visited, I now have to say to anyone considering this place.....just run and don't look back.

I know this is a different subject of sorts but along the same lines, those of you who live in Belize, what do you think of Grand Belizean Estates and the 1200 home sites on the other side of the island? For affordable lots, but expensive home building, will it ever be developed? I am coming down in a week to check it out and other possible land opportunities. What about Sapphire Beach Resort and what they are selling? Anything on that?

please readl all the other posts on the Expat.com for Belize.  there are people willing to help by sharing their experiences and opinions.   There are several posters knowledgeable about the cayes.  If you are determined to buy in a developement they can share info.  spend some time here and the choices will be more clear.  this series of postings about The Sanctuary is a waste of time for you.

unsubscribe me from all information regarding the Sanctuary.    I have clicked the unsub button repeatedly for several days.  I continue to receive postings.

Why is it that when at least 10 or more people on this thread, that have been to SB and loved what they saw and could not be happier with the tour are ignored.  But one guy who goes and has his reservations about the place and people jump on it like jackels on a carcass.  BB has legitimate concerns and he is entities to his position.  There are many more of us that do not share his reservations about the place.  Only time will tell who is correct.

kristinanadreau wrote:

unsubscribe me from all information regarding the Sanctuary.    I have clicked the unsub button repeatedly for several days.  I continue to receive postings.

Hello kristinanadreau.

You are already unsubscribed from this thread.
If you continue to receive notifications from this thread, could you please Contact Us in private?

[Sorry for the off topic]

Thank you,
Aurélie

Halleb,

We are also from MN and looking at Sanctuary Belize as a future retirement option.

We're likely 5+ years from building anything, but am considering buying a lot now for future use.

As we figure out a time to go on the tour, I may reach out with some specific questions before we go.

You may also want to check out Royal Colony Estates in Corozal.  We saw on our tour last year and really like it.

Or check out Four Mile Lagoon Corozal

Original cowboys now in prison-I believe.
Run now by good group of people.
Sound investment.

Hi i was reading the post on Sanctuary Belize and you mentioned you were visiting this past May? How did your visit go and what are your thoughts? These type of projects are MAJOR scams throughout Costa Rico and i have had several friends lose their money and investment.

Thank you in advance

Don

November 2013? Hmmmmmmm all you did was add to more confusion.

Lifeagain

Who are you asking?  As I was there in May.  Are you asking me?  If so PM me and I will fill you in

Of all of the people who "were ging to S.B" surley some must have come back by now . It strikes me as very strange ,no one is saying how many homes are built and being lived in.. What about an airel photograph of the entire priject.. All this bickering is anoying.( I'm part of it, I smelled a rat))  All it takes are a few straight answers to obvious questions.. I noticed someone asking a fellow what he thought of it when he appasrenly was there in May.. What does the fellow do?? He says he will tell lifeagain in a private email what he found.. He dose not want us knowing.. What kind of project is this ??.. Everything secret, previous owners in jail. Project started 10 years ago ,and still nothing but words.. No physical proof??? One airiel photograph .. And the bickering will end.
I'm a member of this forum,and all I get these days are emails saying someone posted about SB. There are the questions ,and there are the "nonanswers", the evasive " come on down"  the invitation to go there , thats called openning the sale, the guy who you meet is called the closer. Thats why you get no answers from them ,just come on down.. Then the closer meets you .. It's commonsense , sales are commision sales ,what do you expect..   
How bout one person videoing the whole project ?? several hundred lots are selling each year ,someone surley lives there in a home thsat's been built for him..
I can't remember ever hearing such evasive answers in my life .. If I phone a project manager here in Alberta and ask about the project ,whats built and not , I'll get straight from the hip answers .. We have politicians that come up with more straight answers than Iv'e ever gotten here ..
This has gotten to me . ( as you can tell) ..Sorry folks..

Xcaret,  My husband and I own property in SB and have since it's beginning.  The boat basin is flooded and is now open for owners to park their boats.  We don't own a boat because we aren't there often enough until we retire to have one YET!

It is not bogus, nor a scam.  It is very solid.  Most owners haven't built yet because the cost of the land is fairly expensive. There ARE some homes being built, and anyone that took the time to visit the fire tower can see them.   We visited in January and Johnny and his crews have been working hard.  This is not a quickie fly-by-night operation.  It takes a fair amount of time to get it all together.  AND it is island time, of course. 

I think an arial view is a good idea for those that can't see "the big picture" yet.  We were never pressured by a rude salesperson.  Try using country code of 011, and they do have an office in the US in California.  If, however you received a rude reply, perhaps the person on the other end is not SB but some poor yuk tired of the wrong calls.

Investigate some more, it is beautiful and will be for a very long time.

You can reply to this or email me personally.  NO I do not work for them.  My name is Anna Vinson from San Antonio, TX and I am currently working in Qingdao China for 14 months.  My personal email is wine_rider@yahoo.com.  We also own other property inland in San Ignaciao, and love it there too.

Jodivin, ,Thats the only informative post on this entire SB thread.. Thank You .. No ,the people who called me got my info when I loogged onto SB site . No matter ,salesman are suposed to be pushy ,even if we don't like it..lol
Really ,, Your post is the only one with any information whatsoever, and I'm sure you will be geting quite a few requests for more information now that you put your personal email address on here ..
I hope your enjoying your stay in China..
Thanks , Neil

Ill make this short and to the point. Last time i checked it was the year 2013 and due to social media you can find out a ton of info about almost anything and anyone with the push of a button.   People keep complaining that they want to see pictures. Specifically An arial view of the property and pictures of houses being built.  Where's one of the first place most people go to find pictures of something. FACEBOOK people!!!  Just type in sanctuary belize and it will take you to their page. They post pictures of all their tours from month to month. You can see tours that date all the way back to August 2010.  If you want to see progress just check out their albums.  Most of their monthly tour albums have arial views. You can even check out the progress from month to month this way. There is also an album titled "Marina from the sky" where you can see arial photos of the marina.

Below I have posted 2 links. One to their Facebook page and one right to their photo albums. I hope they work.


facebook.com/officialsanctuarybelize/photos_albums
facebook.com/officialsanctuarybelize

There were at least ten people who have posted on this thread who are owners, all telling the same story.  And as the last poster said.  Look on the web.  Just google it and you will see all the pics you want.  They are real and it looks like that in person.  YouTube has a ton of video.  Watch flooding of the marina.

Check out the Wall Street journal from 7/26 on Sanctuary Belize and other CA places.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 … l#slide/1.   Some body keeps asking for pictures.  Here they are

I wonder what the price of a home like that is ?  It's beautiful!

We're taking the tour in September. I've noticed that there hasn't been any mention about SB being heavily advertised on The Blaze. It's why we made our decision to look...

He's the reason I probably will.

Sedatia wrote:

He's the reason I probably will.

Post numbers 113 and 116 mention Glenn Beck and advertisements on his show as reasons not to buy in Sanctuary Belize.

I think it shows that they are being smart and advertising on The Blaze and Fox News Network so that they are reaching their target audience.

We're looking forward to living in an informed community.

I heard that CNN has ads featuring Anderson Cooper saying what a great place Corozal is to live.  Just kidding.  I was just trying to think of an opposite of Shawn Hannity and Fox News.

Agree, Larry. We vacillate between buying into a community or just buy privately. Since we're not in a position to make the move permanently, SB sounds like what we're looking for- investment, vacation home, and potential rental. Private sales have several downsides: maintenance, squatting, and vandalism. Placentia has my heart, but its only 25 miles south to make it a great day trip. Corozal is far to close to Mexico for my liking. Hopefully, our paths will cross one day.

Hi all,

I'm a Lot owner at SB and I'm interested in selling. I bought in phase 1 so there is no time limit on building. As we live in the UK it has just proved too far away for us to realistically reside there. If you're interested PM me for more details.

Mattbr wrote:

Hi all,

I'm a Lot owner at SB and I'm interested in selling. I bought in phase 1 so there is no time limit on building. As we live in the UK it has just proved too far away for us to realistically reside there. If you're interested PM me for more details.

PM sent.

See that you are registered as living in Melbourne. Is that near Derby?

http://www.abelizehomeforus.wordpress.com

There is a Melbourne near Derby, but no that's where I'm from-Melbourne Australia. We live in Dorset. I better change my profile....

I have purchased a lot here three years ago. This development is awesome. Everything is ECO friendly. John Usher, who lives in Belize , has a great staff. They can answer any questions you might have. They also have tours almost every weekend. The tour alone is worth going to. You even get to go to the private island for a day of fun in the sun.

I just saw this posted on another blog site. The author is a Belize City attorney. His advice seems sound:


When purchasing property in Belize always ensure that you first request a copy of the Vendor's title. Once you receive a copy of the Vendor's title you can then proceed to enter into a sale agreement with the respective Vendor.

Always ensure that when you enter into a sale agreement in Belize, the Vendor is made a party to the agreement and not some third party.

This may seem rudimentary; however, may purchasers fail to do this.

For Example: When purchasing property at Sanctuary Belize, Sittee River Wild Life Reserve Limited should be made a party to your agreement as it is the registered legal owner of the properties.

-
steveperera@gmail.com
_________________________
Estevan Perera
attorneybelize.com
501-6104444

Nichi wrote:

I just saw this posted on another blog site. The author is a Belize City attorney. His advice seems sound:


When purchasing property in Belize always ensure that you first request a copy of the Vendor's title. Once you receive a copy of the Vendor's title you can then proceed to enter into a sale agreement with the respective Vendor.

Always ensure that when you enter into a sale agreement in Belize, the Vendor is made a party to the agreement and not some third party.

This may seem rudimentary; however, may purchasers fail to do this.

For Example: When purchasing property at Sanctuary Belize, Sittee River Wild Life Reserve Limited should be made a party to your agreement as it is the registered legal owner of the properties.

-
steveperera@gmail.com
_________________________
Estevan Perera
attorneybelize.com
501-6104444

This was one of the factors we considered when we decided to buy our lot in Sanctuary Belize.  Since they own the the property free and clear of any "legal charges and encumbrances" we didn't have to worry about some of what has been reported to have happened elsewhere in Belize with different developers selling property that they did not own. 

It took a few months for the paperwork to work it's way through the system but we now have the transfer certificate of title showing that we are the owners.

Now if we can just decide on our house and dock plans... 

Then there is that whole retire and move thing...

We keep seeing pictures of all of the houses being built posted on the Sanctuary Belize FaceBook page and it just makes us want to go NOW!

We'll see you there!

Lucky Larry

they just started pushing commercials of this place up here in canada and they dont say too much other than a lot of your fellow canadians have already purchased here.they dont show any of the project just talk about belize.

My husband and I went down to Sanctuary Belize on the tour in July. The tour is very extensive and they do not push you to buy property if you decide that you are not interested. Your deposit is returned to you. My husband and I were very impressed with the development and decided to buy a lot there. We will be building our retirement home there. We have also met with several other people from Ontario that have bought land there. We would be happy to share our thoughts, information and photos with you. Please send me your personal email or Skype address and then we can talk. It is better in Belize.

why would there be a deposit to go and take a tour of a development?.also there is a guy here from brockville,ontario who is crooked and just bought up some beachfront land down there and is planning to develop condos and other construction,hes never been to belize before,so watch what you buy.

popeye1 wrote:

why would there be a deposit to go and take a tour of a development?.

There is no requirement to make a deposit to go down to Belize and tour the property.  A deposit is only to hold a particular lot when someone decides that they want to select a particular lot and hold it until they make the trip down to see it.

The developer hosts frequent web based mini seminars (webinars) to provide information in addition to what you can see on their website.  The webinars include a Q&A session to allow you to ask any questions you might have about the development. 

In the webenars we participated in they offered us the opportunity to select a lot and lock in the current pricing until we had the opportunity to fly down and see the development and decide to buy the selected lot, change to a different lot, or decide to not buy anything.  If we chose a different lot we would still get the pricing that was in effect at the time we made the deposit.  And if we had chosen not to purchase at that time the deposit would have been refunded.

In our case we were planning to go to see it within two weeks from the webinar so we did not select a lot until after we got there.

Cheers,
Lucky Larry

Enjoy your trip to Sanctuary Belize. Go to the website to see the new section they opened called Northridge. I believe the development will be an amazing village place to meet like minded people who forfill their dream. We bought a lot there in July and are planning to build and move down there within the next 2-3 years.

to Popeye,    you are wasting your breath with these people.  Let them get scammed since they are so determined.   aside from the scam issue, is the very real issue of access.  mabe fly or boat, but the drive????????????  horrendous     2 hand cranked ferries that can not run when the rains come........
taking a plane to Chetumal or Belize city to grocery shop????  LOL

Kris:
When we toured Belize last March (Belize Paradise Tours)I asked about Orchid Bay when we were in Corozal. I was told the same thing about the roads......when it rains the roads are almost impassable and it requires a ferry to get to and from any place for shopping, etc. That's why we ultimately decided on Royal Colony Estates in Corozal, which I felt like was a much better value for the money. We visited quite a few places- Ambergris Caye, Placencia, Belmopan, San Ignacio, and Corozal, so it was certainly not an impulse buy but one that involved a great deal of thoughtful consideration. I agree that having to take a boat or plane just to go shopping would really suck!! RICK & LINDA

i will never understand what other people see in different real estate opportunities -- I guess i will always be a bit off the mainstream, so to each their own in selecting what they want out of Belize.

So if you want to pay 5 times higher for a development (based on a property on the other bank of the Sittee river just sold for $35k for 5 acres) that's your own decision.

But I would be more concerned about the practicality of some of the houses they are building and how they will hold up in a hurricane, because they do come every 5 years or so.  Numerous people died in the placencia lagoon during hurricane iris -- can't image what will happen to filled land and a freshly dug marina that has not been shaped from eons of storm surge.



From the Sanctuary Belize facebook site, "A beautiful Saturday to relax in our breathtaking bamboo homes." 

Will these buildings hold up when a 20 foot wave comes?  Those are just wooden piers.