How Property Is Titled And The Safest Form Of Property Title
The entirety of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye has been "Registered" thus the need to have already converted the title of your land there to a Land Certificate. If not, unscrupulous people can steal your land. Plus you can only sell land on the island with a Land Certificate. There are areas of the island that are outside of the registered area and do not require a land certificate before a property can be sold. Palm Bay Club has been one of those areas. I am not sure if it still is in that category or not? How long it will stay that way if it is? I do not know.
Forms Of Property Title On Ambergris Caye
Deeds of Conveyance
The oldest form of title ownership is 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 by way of an application for first registration. Any successive buyer is issued a Transfer Certificate of Title. A Deed of Conveyance is a valid legal title once a lawyer has confirmed that the seller has good title to the property.
A Transfer of Certificate of Title
A Transfer Certificate of Title is a physical title to a particular tract of land. This type of ownership is secure. It is more costly and time consuming to transfer title on a Transfer Certificate of Title than on a Deed of Conveyance.
A Land Certificate
A Land Certificate 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.
Some Tips
In any purchase in Belize, make sure you employ a good, independent lawyer to oversee the purchase, more than anything to make sure the property has clean and clear title before you transfer funds.
When purchasing property in Belize, title insurance is not obligatory and closing costs are very nominal as there is no capital gains tax. The taxes in place for buying a property in Belize are small compared to other countries in the region. Transfer or Stamp tax is due only on properties valued at more than US$10,000, and at a rate of five per cent above this level, at the time of transfer of title.
