Sanctuary Belize

Hey gang, its taken me awhile to read all the posts on here about sanctuary belize and mango springs development.  From reading everything online about things, I find myself confused. Half of the things are positive and half are negative. Has anyone been to either place in the last few months to see how its developing other than the people who are working for them..? it all looked promising until i read all the negatives.. im 34 and traveled the globe scuba diving and enjoying what the world has to offer and ask of me. I found the info for SB on facebook in 2011 and have been in talks with one of the lead sales guys with many back and forth discussions with no real hassle to give any $. after about a year or so go by and saw the lots i was interested in go up in price and the exact lots i was interested in not be available the following year, i decided since they were also the bank and had assured me that they already had the funding in an escrow account for the build and this wouldn't be one of the deserted half built communities you so often see while in travels off the beaten path. I decided to pay them a visit in Newport Beach as I am not far from there. We talked for a few more hours and I decided to buy into it due to the "international airport" and "state of the art hospital" negotiations had passed and had funding as well as being able to put the downpayment on a cc due to them owning the bank financing the whole deal.. about 8 months later I was called up and told about a new development formally called kanantik belize now called mango springs. I also bought into it as the payment plan was affordable and looked like a very promising investment due to being in at subground level. again im 34 and not looking to live there permanently until im 40ish. I could really use a few peeps to chat with that are owners in either or both. should i hold out a bit or put them both back on the market and buy elsewhere if or when they sell? If so does anyone know of any of the honorable Real Estate agents that do business in that area. I know this is a bit lengthy post but bare with me as this is my 1st post.

Thanks in advance for any insider info.
B

So you are making (TWO) payments at this point? Credit Card payments as well as Property payments to Sanctuary Belize?

lifeagain wrote:

So you are making (TWO) payments at this point? Credit Card payments as well as Property payments to Sanctuary Belize?

I had a few cc's with 0% interest for a year so thought i could take advantage of it for some nice airline miles to travel with. but to answer you question, No... The cc was only for downpayment... once that was charged which they let me do it over a few months. then the property payment started. They said the property payment couldn't be paid with a form of debt.. so i do a monthly deposit for both properties at this point and have a 20 year fixed rate. and for me the payments arn't too bad. i already paid off the ccs.. i was just talking to my other half about when to head back out there n check out whats been going on.. they just told me that the airport would be either started or finished in the next 12-18 months not sure which... kinda unclear about it but either way its going to happen and the hospital was going to have its ground breaking in early 2016 as they are finalizing paperwork on it.... again i was just told this and haven't looked into it..

SB in my opinion is a bad investment

The Airport ground to a halt a long while ago although they did have a few light aircraft land a few months ago. I have seen or read nowhere else that the Hospital is due for groundbreaking anytime soon although there was talk of a clinic opening in the general area some time in the future. I seem to understand from your post you have purchased these two properties sight unseen, have you ever visited Belize yet? The price of those two pieces of land could purchase some where that actually has buildings and infrastructure in place. as has been said often almost every property is for sale in Belize.

@Justbekush, I'm sorry but your post is so ridiculous that it appears you are merely a troll trying to get everyone riled up.

But I'll give you an "A" for effort.

It's amazing that people still part with their hard earned cash for property that they've never seen!
The international airport looked mighty quiet the other day when I passed by, and no further forward than a few months ago. It is far from finished and will never be 'international' without a nearby hospital, hotels and other facilities, so I wouldn't hold your breath.
Come and have a look at the area, and see for yourself.
Only my humble opinion.

The only trolls on here are the people that work at GPA (for those that don't know who or what that is it is where all the money goes to when some poor bugger buys land at Sanctuary Belize or Mango Springs.

Honestly if the story didn't go into so much detail involving deposits and credit cards etc, I may have brought into it. As you read it, it was just too much over the top to buy into.

The fun part is we all get entertained a bit and always take what ever you read on these blogs with a grain of salt.

I'm curious if anyone has taken the tour recently. It's been two years since I visited and I was wondering if there has been significant progress with construction of the Marina and the rest of the development.

not much has changed at SB, they started a gas station at the marina but it is not up and running and is not predicted to be until second half of 2016. Progress is very slow, say old BS from the people in Newport Beach running the show.

That's sort of what I expected. The lots were just grossly overpriced without the planned infrastructure actually in place. Sure a lot of beautiful pictures of marinas, shoppes etc doesn't really mean those things are there or will be. The promise of the hospital and airport as well as the marina were never part of any purchase agreement. When it comes to real estate its whats in writing that really counts. My other red flag was the easy finance part. This  is exactly what caused the foreclosure crisis here in the US. They were handing out financing to anyone and not checking income/credit or anything back in 2003-2006 which then it all fell apart in 2008. I'm guessing that SB just keeps taking back lots that people default on and then just resell them.

Can't help but wonder how the people on my tour who were very excited to jump on board with it are feeling today.

I am sure they are sick to their stomachs! It looks more and more like a scam!

I suppose seeing is believing. Personally, I would not buy into anything with promises of "future" development. I would have to be comfortable with the price for what is already there. Undeveloped land with no utilities/amenities should be priced accordingly, not based on some unrealized vision.  I know what it's like to get the real estate " bug", pay too much because I don't want to lose the property to another buyer and jump into something prematurely that really doesn't meet realistic needs. I do realize it is hard to "comp" properties due to an unorganized system and that any real estate price cheaper than what we see in our country of origin may look like a bargain. It is hard to tame the " I have to buy something before it's gone or too pricy" animal but actually seeing for ourselves and doing the research seems to be the way of least regret. Thanks to everyone for all of the helpful info and telling us to "take our time" and "look before you buy". Best of luck! 😊

Jackie, I originally posted on this blog in 2012 (post # 7 etc) to try and forewarn people about Sanctuary Belize, and I wasn't the only one. I originally became interested in SB in 2009 and almost bought into it but luckily the owners were found to be scam artists convicted and sent to prison. The new owners distanced themselves from the ones in prison but after watching and investigating them over the next couple of years it became clear they were the same caliber of people. They are still the owners today. Back in 2009 they were promising a hospital, and airport, marina and clubhouse within a year or two. 6 years later they are still just promises. We are now at over 400 posts on this subject many praising SB. Ilooked into those people and also the ones given testimonials on their website and found them to be well paid spokespeople for SB. When I called them out you can imagine the hate mail I got (some of it on this blog). You seem like a sensible person so this is the bottom line. DON'T go to the sanctuary Belize website, DON'T go to visit    SB these people are very good at what they do. DON'T pay any attention to anyone on this blog that even has the slightest hint of visiting there. Be forwarned SB is not the only scam in Belize. I was dealing with a real estate lady and looking forward to buying in Belize and then I saw her on house hunters international selling a property to a first time visitor to Belize. Later on I was doing an internet search for Belize properties and saw the property for sale she sold to the guy. I went back to the show and noted the guys name and researched him on the internet and found out he had been to Belize many times and she and he had used the show to promote the area where he was developing time shares. The moral to all this is be very, VERY careful when buying anything in Belize. You have no idea who to trust. I noticed that there is another scam (?) starting on Ambyrgeis Caye. As my wife and I were looking forward to retiring in Belize we were very disappointed and decided to look elsewhere in Central America. Whatever your decision be careful young lady this is not the USA and therefore draws scam artists by the fistful and you can't go to court to get your hard earned money back. P.S. Be especially careful of those who profess to be very religious.  JOEMAC

New updates on Sanctuary Belize, looks like the guy running it may be heading back to prison.

http://getoutofdebt.org/93195/andris-pu … ith-courts

Will be happy to talk with you

Just as any time share or development sales pitch - they get you there for nice relaxing 3-4 days - get you in the "Ether" and it all looks great and you can picture yourself retiring.  I have no doubt that in time (maybe 10 years or so) that there will be an established community there at SB.  If folks are looking to buy, build, and live - they should be fine.  If folks are looking to buy lots for investments - then they are in for a long, rough road as these lots are very, very expensive for Belize.  they are priced as if the development is completed and all the amenities in place - not pre-development price structures.  We could buy prime equestrian land in TN for less money/acre!

In Belize - the locals are land rich and cash poor.  It is like the wild west down there and they are exploited by Westerners who purchase their land at rock-bottom pricing and then list it for westernized prices.  If you  see it on the Internet or other listings - chances are it has been "churned" already.  It takes due-diligence for an extended period of time to locate a good deal .  You need trusted folks working down there for you and it will take numerous trips to survey, meeting owners, paying for title searches, etc.  It took us 4 years to finally find our little place in heaven and we couldn't be happier.  Got the land at a fair price, great location, and we cannot wait to get it cleared and move down with our horses.  My favorite saying down there is "if you have patience - you will lose it in Belize and if you don't have patience - you will find it!"

IMDONE do you own land at SB?

JOEMAC what scam is going on in Ambergis? Is it another development like Sanctuary Belize?

Thanks

Also note very few scams are based financially actually in Belize or run by Belizians.

Tuggie.....dont k ow if my reply posted so here it is again.
Yes, we bought a lot in the sapodilla ridge section of sb.  Later found a much better place closer to placencia village. 
As to the development at sb....it does seem to have some progress, albeit rather slow.  We will be listing our lot for sale in the future

Tuggle, It was about 2 years ago I received a real estate ad for Ambergis Caye. They had bought acreage on the other side of the Caye from San Pedro. They showed a mock up of what the development would look like and offered fantastic prices (????) on pre-construction lots. When you looked at it from the sattelite map it looked like there was an existing tank farm there or something. I didn't know how they were going to deal with that but the video they presented was impressive to an uninformed viewer. I keep saying "they" because I deleted all the propaganda including individual and company names so I can't be more explicit. I just like to inform people to be very, very careful when considering a purchase of anything in Belize. I tried dealing with the bank of belize to open an account to start my retirement requirements and could never get an answer from them. There is way to much drama and uncertainty in Belize for me to consider buying there.

To the point made by Terrific I agree totally with her. The scams I have run into in Belize have been run by Brits for larger developments and single con artists coming from the US and starting a local real estate office. For what it is worth if I ever considered Belize again it would be on the Cayes but never on the main land. Good luck

The poor people who invested at Sanctuary Belize....
http://independentownerssanctuarybelize.com/

Someone just sent me this link to this website

Interesting reading Tuggie. Thank you for posting.

I saw on the FB page one gentlemen who was on my tour in October 2013. He was so excited, I recall a few of us even took his photo standing in front of the lot he was purchasing and texted it to his phone. I really enjoyed my visit but decided the development would just take too long to complete if it completed at all. I was 61 at the time and wouldn't have wanted to retire to construction noise. I recall another woman from the mid west who was so excited about buying she was almost begging to sign so as not to miss out. Most members of the staff  seemed so honest and forthright, I have to think they had no idea that this was going to happen.

It was interesting by the end of the tour there were those who were going to buy and those who weren't. It almost felt like it was "us versus them". I recall sitting down to one of the breakfasts and the man on the other side of the table asked me my thoughts. I told him I didn't think it was the right fit for me and I noticed his whole attitude towards me changed to the point almost as if I was his adversary because I didn't see it as he did. It was really an interesting week. It was a week of my life I will never forget, I really enjoyed the tour and the accomodation's. I also met some very nice people from all parts of the our country and Canada as well.

I can't help but wonder??? Had I purchased and it reached this place now 3 years later. I think I would just walk away and take the financial loss. I guess all that would happen is SB for reclaim my lot and I would be out any money I may have invested if I used their financing. I would think the people who paid cash for their lots and own them outright at this point are the ones who really have a lot to be upset with.

For those that bought or want info regarding Sanctuary Belize or Kanatik/Mango Springs, you better read this....


https://getoutofdebt.org/95895/new-webs … idebt-fame

Interesting, I just got their email newsletter and they are still painting a very upbeat picture of how much progress is going on.

of course they are, they are still trying to sell lots, plus attract people to Kanatik. They photshop pictures to make it look like more is going on than there actually is. It is dishonest and I can't believe the sales people and concierge D** go along with the lies, I honestly don't know how those people sleep at night!!!

Tuggie, I'm heading there very soon and I will provide some current updates. I will send the updates to you first so you can work on the rebuttals Photoshop? C'mon...there are people living there that get the newsletter as well.

they admitted to photo shopping pictures, have you seen the lovely pictures of the shops and boutiques at the Marina Village? Go take some pictures of the roads, they do know how to move dirt, and BS

When was this admission made? Are you confusing renderings with actual photos?

Don't be so angry

admissions were made last week, I am not angry just very disappointed in their manipulation of things. I hope your investment, lot, home or whatever works out for you, but I have been waiting a long time to see some vertical building done here, every year its the same thing.

You've mentioned your disappointment for a few years now.

Why are you waiting for development improvements? You seem to have contempt for the community. Do you secretly want to move there? Why don't you go back there so you can offer a fresher-firsthand assessment rather relying upon your current source? I'll stop here.

Contempt??
No I just think the delays in developing is disheartening. I like the owners I have met there, so it's not the community. Maybe I will just have to build in the jungle and cross my fingers it gets built in the next decade...but I honestly don't see that happening right now.

Tuggie
Don't let people bait you here. SB is a scam of the highest degree. You, I and many others know it. I have explained this for years on here so anyone who actually buys here has no one but themselves to blame. I can tell from your posts you are not angry at all but just trying to be helpful. But it does get frustrating. I have looked at real estate for years on Roatan (Honduras) and for the most part have found the agents there highly reputable but a few weeks ago on HGTV they had two people who opted for buying a condo at pre constructed prices. Being familiar with the area this did not pass the smell test. after some easy investigation the construction of the condos is on hold because they can't get building permits for the water break. Sound familiar. So the type of scam like SB is spreading. The lesson to be learned is to deal with proven trustworthy real estate agents and never buy into these pie in the sky operations. Another word of warning in Belize is vent the real estate agents as they are not what they seem, but that is another story that I will tell you if you are interested.

It's just amazing to me how vocal the ones are that have never been or its been 2-3 years since they've visited. Baiting?? No baiting here. I too am trying to be helpful. I'm just saying make a fresh assessment on 1st hand info then this would add some value to your complaints. But the reality is, no one here will do that, they will just continue to write about their experience 3 years ago or what they have heard from some upset owner or what they deduced from a HGTV episode. I bought there and I'm excited about certain things that are going on. The things that bother me are being addressed, but no place will have it all.

Blame? Ok, I will blame myself.

Tour the place now, talk to ALL of the owners living/visiting there, ask lots questions and then I would put stock in your opinion. Cheers

Thanks Joesmac
I have seen another forum page where the SB discussion can get really heated. Not trying to stir things up but from what I see and believe you are correct re:scam!
Would love to know who is a reputable real estate agent in Belize
We have heard that the Coldwell banker in southern Belize is owned by one of the guys involved with sanctuary Belize and not to use them.

Workaholic, I have visited many times, just this past spring, and have spoken with owners, you may need to practice your rebuttal