mid Feb to mid March
We headed down again through Cancun, and stayed in Playa del Carmen for one night and then bused to Chetumal to the water taxi to San Pedro and then to Caye Caulker. Five weeks of Caribbean living but this time to gather much needed information to see if our dreams of living here every winter could become a reality. We even enlisted help from Saskatoon friends to join us to see if they liked the place too. They came down two weeks after us as they were only able to get three weeks off of work. We rented a little house across the street from our first year's visit, a nice little one bedroom house with a small kitchen, living room and bath. It only cost us $550 USD for our entire stay. There was a bigger house across the street with three beds so we booked the guys into that house.
house we stayed in (2012)
the house on the left is the one we stayed in Jan 2011,
and the one on the right is where the guys stayed 2012
Randy and I enjoyed reacquainting with friends we made the previous winter, complete with dinners out with them and also being invited to their local homes for visiting and a meal. Humbling experience as most locals live very modestly with modest and mostly underpaid salaries. It was an honor to be invited, and they treated us with respect and kindness. Their kids are adorable and it is great to know them and to watch them grow as we have now been friends for three years (2013 as I write this).
typical local housing
We met with the real estate agent that was monopolizing the listings at that time, but has since left the island and others have now taken over many of his listings...private enterprises do very well here! He showed us a few listings we were interested in and we discussed a lot of our options. We needed to figure out how we could make some money while we are down here and yet still return to Canada and work our jobs. We have several business ideas that we may act upon in the future. Renting out a Caye Caulker property while we are back in Canada is one of our options.
Once the guys got to the Island though, more information was needed to be gathered. They guys really liked our new found paradise. They said it was like going to the lake and hanging out at a cabin, but yet the water is warm and the most beautiful turquoise colors you can imagine. It really is a magnificent site.
Randy and our friends from home.
We met an ex-pat from USA that has been coming to the Island of Caye Caulker for thirty years and stays for six months every winter and then returns to USA. He was a wealth of information, and I still contact him today for needed info on occasion. He helped start the only high school, Ocean Academy by donating the land and he gave us quite a history lesson of the island as we enjoyed meeting him at his place and just letting him tell us as much as he could with all our questions. I took notes and he was quite amazed by that, because most people just come and ask and then leave and forget. He knew we were serious. We stayed and chatted for a good two hours and he almost was late taking lunch to the volunteers at the school who were in from central USA helping to build an additional level of the school. Volunteers from US and Canada are always coming to Caye Caulker, among other areas of Belize, to help out wherever they can. (photo: Ocean Academy High School)Our goal was to learn as much as we could about Belize, real estate laws and generally how we could make living here a reality. We went home with so much information it was like information overload and it took us about a month to sort through it all and make a plan. Investing in Belize is easy actually, land titles work the same way as in Canada. Mortgages however are too expensive in Belize, so its's best to pay for it all, or negotiate terms for owner financing.
Which brings us to 2013 and our visit to another real estate agent and other real estate to consider.
We have a plan, now for action!
more later.....
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