Welcome to episode #10 of RealtyCast Global – a global connection to all things real estate, hosted by Hugh Gilliam, president of Global Property Pros.
Discover the untold opportunities in the heart of Belize's real estate, as Michael Cobb, CEO of ECI Development Company, joins us again to unravel the intricate tapestry of investment potential in this tropical paradise. Imagine witnessing the metamorphosis of a quaint fishing village into a flourishing tourist haven – that's the story Michael shares with us, revealing strategic insights that make Belize a golden nugget for global investors. From its colonial past to its prime spot on the development curve, this episode promises a wealth of knowledge for the astute listener looking to diversify their portfolio in the most scenic of markets.
As we navigate the juxtaposition of expat life across Belize and Nicaragua, we explore the transformation shaped by the surge of cruise ships and the resulting popularity wave. Whether you're a digital nomad seeking a picturesque backdrop for your remote work or a pre-retiree planning an idyllic escape, this conversation with Michael opens doors to understanding how to merge lifestyle aspirations with savvy investment choices. Get ready to broaden your horizons with this episode, where the azure waters of Ambergris Caye beckon not just for their beauty but for the lucrative revenue streams they hold for those ready to take the plunge into Belize's real estate adventure.
Visit blog.realtyhive.com for more details on this episode.
About the guest - Michael Cobb:
Mr. Cobb transitioned from a successful tech career into Central American real estate. and co-founded Exotic Caye International (1996), offering loans to North Americans buying property across Belize and Honduras. The company transformed into an international bank in Belize, expanding services beyond mortgages. Recognizing a need for quality real estate catering to Baby Boomers, Cobb led into development, including an Ambergris Caye resort. They also bought beachfront property in Nicaragua (2000) and on the coastline in Costa Rica (2006). Mr. Cobb has spoken at global conferences, consulted for The Oxford Club, and advises Central American real estate projects.
About the host - Hugh Gilliam:
Hugh Gilliam co-owned a national transportation company, created a land development business, and worked as a general contractor in residential and commercial construction for over two decades. Hugh also co-founded an international distribution company and successfully negotiated and contracted with 135 sales representatives in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Japan, and the Netherlands.
Today, Mr. Gilliam is affiliated with RealtyHive, LLC where he serves as Director of International Real Estate and President of Global Property Pros. His duties include involvement in commercial and residential transactions, plus promoting marketing systems and lead generation platforms.
For real estate professionals looking to take their business to the next level, check out Global Property Pros!
He is also co-founder of the luxury digital magazine, DOORWAYS INTERNATIONAL, powered by RealtyHive, which serves as a platform for Brokers and Buyers throughout 70 countries.
Hugh's Designations Include:
- Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist
- Certified Distressed Property Export
- Certified International Property Specialist
- Certified International Investment & Immigration Specialist
- Transnational Referral Certification
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hugh Gilliam (00:01):
Welcome to RealtyCast Global, where we
bring insights and advice fromtop professionals in the global
market.
Join us for a journey ofculture and real estate from
countries across the globe.
So we're back with Michael Cobb, who happens to be the CEO and
founder of ECI DevelopmentCompany.
(00:22):
He's been in Belize and all theCentral American countries for
about 26 to 27 years and we justfinished up Episode 1.
This is Episode 2, and we'regoing to be concentrating on
Belize, and I appreciate yoursincerity in what you do, the
fact that you took a leap offaith into Central America and
(00:44):
found that you needed to do aservice there, but then that led
you into another area, intodevelopment, and I think that
you've made a great statementhere about what you can do when
you decide to get up and go andmake it happen.
And for those that didn't hearthe first episode, please go
back and hear the back story onMike Cobb.
(01:06):
I think you'll enjoy that as wefocus on Belize now.
There's a handbook and Michaelis great about writing about
what he's done, what he'saccomplished in terms of
findings when you move into aforeign country, things that
need to be done and what gotyour interest in Belize in the
(01:27):
first place.
Michael Cobb (01:28):
Yeah, well, I referred to this in the first
podcast, but thanks again forhaving me.
I enjoy talking about thesekinds of things because so many
people today are really lookingat living overseas right, or at
least owning property overseasmaybe vacation investment,
whatever and it's certainly anarea that's growing.
(01:51):
More and more people arelooking at it and the importance
of doing it right and gettingit right the first time is so
important.
So thank you for the firstpodcast where we talked about
the Consumer Resource guide andreally a tool to help people get
it right the first time.
My story, and again we letpeople go back and listen to the
(02:11):
first podcast.
I went to Belize for my veryfirst trip sometime at the very
end of 92 or early 93 with abuddy of mine.
Joel Nagel is his name and he'sa international tax attorney
and he does uh asset protectionwork for for mostly for
physicians that that's his, hisclient, uh client base, and so
(02:31):
he went to belize.
He called me up one day andsaid you want to go to belize?
I had no clue where it was, butI said yes, so we went and and
this was uh 93.
And, uh, when I got there I Iambergus key because belize is a
country and we can come backand talk about thin slicing in a
minute.
But but Belize, you know,ambergus, key, belize in 1993
(02:52):
had only sand streets.
It was an old fishing village,truly a little fishing village.
Population of the island maybetwo, three thousand people.
I mean it was tiny and and andno building over two stories.
This place was quaint, like Imean just a throwback to you
know like Gilligan's Island, Imean really like Gilligan's
(03:14):
Island with a few more people,right, and so it was.
So I just I loved it and I saidwow, I can see how this really
could become something a lotmore than it is today from a
tourist perspective, and that'swhy we bought it.
And there were condo buildingsgoing up and we actually bought
a couple of condos on our nexttrip, kind of whatever, maybe
(03:34):
March, april of 93.
And I started going a lot,right, and as I started going a
lot, over the first three orfour years we started a little
business, a mortgage company,but even more so, just to see 93
, 94, 95, 96, just to seedifferent things happening more
businesses, more development,more condo projects, more homes
(03:56):
going up, more people coming tothe island, more restaurants and
I could just see this path ofprogress happening.
And I could just see this pathof progress happening and back
in the early 90s, late 80s,early 90s, it really was a super
niche destination.
You were either a serious diveror a serious fisherman, mostly
fly fishing, and if you were aserious diver or a serious fly
(04:19):
fishing, you knew exactly whereAmbergus Cay was.
If you were like me in 1993, Ihad no clue where belize was,
let alone ambergus key.
Well, it was british honduraswhen I studied it in high school
, right, and I'm not sure thatwould have done it either, but
but it was british hondurasuntil 1981, right, yeah, right.
And then it became belize,still part of the commonwealth,
(04:40):
right, and so, uh, and englishis the official language, which
I think has been a big part ofBelize's draw right, that
English is the official language.
But but you know it just, itjust spoke of opportunity, it
just spoke of, like, so muchthere that could happen and was
happening, right.
And I just said, you know, andthat's why I left the computer
(05:01):
business in 98.
I just said to myself mygoodness, like I want to get on
this train because this train isrolling, and so was the
computer train, by the way, andthat's a different story.
But gosh, yeah, I just saw thepotential in Belize, and here we
are now, 30 years later, rightfrom 93 to 23,.
(05:23):
Right, years later, right from93 to 23, right, I mean 30 years
later to have seen much of thispotential begin to be realized.
Yet just an incredible amountleft to happen.
So you know, in fact, one of thethings people ask and you
didn't ask.
But a lot of people ask me whyBelize?
And my answer is it's in thesweet spot of the development
(05:45):
curve.
Right, I mean, back in the oldcomputer days you could be on
the bleeding edge.
You never wanted to be on thebleeding edge because that was
just, you were ahead of the timeand it was horrible.
Leading edge was a good placeto be.
Sweet spot is the best place tobe, and I would say that Belize
is truly in the sweetest of thesweet spots right now in the
(06:07):
development curve, and so itreally is exciting to have
watched this transition over 30years, to be a part of it, to
actually be a big part of it aswell.
And in fact, I'm sorry I'mgoing long on the answer, but I
just got to tell this.
This is crazy.
So I was sitting with some VIPs.
I'm just going to leave it atthat.
(06:29):
I was sitting with some VIPs acouple of weeks ago for
breakfast and they were askingwell, you know, how many people
do you have?
You know, with your with it's abank now how many people you
have in your bank?
How many people do you realizethat you all employ over one
percent of the belize workforce?
And we're like what?
(06:50):
And like, yeah, you guys employwell over one percent of the
belize workforce.
And I just thought, my goodness, so we've been a big part of
this.
You know this, this potential,actualization of the potential,
as well as watching it.
But we've watched it, we'veparticipated in it, we've
contributed to it.
It's very exciting, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (07:12):
You did live there for a while in Belize, and I'm
thinking about your wife andchildren were there also.
Michael Cobb (07:18):
Well, this was 1998 and we were living on
Ambergus Key, so pre, pre-kid,just married pre-kids, and we
lived there for six months andand I say this, I say this very
honestly that we lived onAmbergus Key for six months and
it was five and a half monthstoo long.
You know, people are like whatare you saying?
(07:39):
Like, yeah, it wasn't right forus.
We were living on a tiny littleCaribbean island with a
population of maybe you know,three, four thousand people.
At that point, I mean itdoubled in population, right,
but still three, four thousandpeople, little tiny island,
still sand streets, like it.
Just it's not me, it's not thelife I want.
(08:00):
Conversely, I know we're nottalking about Nicaragua today.
Conversely, my wife, carol andmy two-year-old daughter, amanda
, moved to nicaragua in 2002 forwhat we thought would be two or
three years and we ended upstaying, by choice, for 14 years
.
So so the expat lifestyle isright for us in the country,
that's a good fit, and I thinkthat's a really important point
(08:22):
to make is that, you know,different countries feel
different, different countrieslike clothing, they wear
differently.
Ambergus Key, belize, was not agood fit for my wife and I.
We just did not enjoy thatparticular lifestyle, but that's
not to say people don't.
I mean tons of expats, lots ofvacationers, tons of digital
nomads and people coming toBelize.
(08:43):
Amberg is key, specific, andthey love it.
It's a good fit for them.
And they might feel the sameway about Nicaragua.
They go there for six monthsand it would be five and a half
months too long, right.
So, again, different strokesfor different folks.
But, yeah, lived in Belize forsix months, but have visited
there literally more than once amonth.
For 30 years I've been inBelize.
(09:05):
I don't know how many timesthat is, you know, 30 times 12,.
However many times that is, youknow?
Yeah, a lot, a lot.
Hugh Gilliam (09:09):
But I was going to say also it's changed a lot
since the last 30 years, I meanwhen you were living there.
Today's a different world inBelize.
Michael Cobb (09:18):
Population 20, 25,000 on the island now.
So it would definitely be adifferent experience if Carol
and I were to live there again,and it might be one that we
would like and enjoy.
I don't know.
That's a very good point, hugh.
It's changed a lot in those 25years, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (09:36):
Well, speaking of changes and what's happened
within the last 25 to 30 years,what do you think about the next
five to 10 years?
As far as changes in Belize,what do you forecast?
Michael Cobb (09:47):
Yeah, well, you know what we're seeing and why.
Truly, belize is in the sweetspot of the development curve.
I actually I think thedevelopment curve is a little
technical.
I actually use something andit's the same curve, by the way,
and I put the in fact here.
I mean it's in our consumerresource guide.
I'll send that to you so youcan put up in the show notes,
this chart right here.
Right, it's truly a developmentcurve, path of progress curve,
(10:12):
whatever you want to call it.
I actually try to make itreally simple.
I call it the popularity curve,and how I put the countries or
the places in a country on thiscurve was I just simply asked
myself if somebody got marriedin Pittsburgh, pennsylvania,
this week, this Saturday, comingup, where are they going on
their honeymoon Monday morning?
(10:33):
Right, you know what?
Tons of them going to Cancun.
Tons of them going to theBahamas.
Bunch of them going to CostaRica.
Not very many, if any, going toNicaragua or El Salvador, and
Belize is kind of right in themiddle.
More and more people going toBelize, but it's not nearly as
popular as Costa Rica or Cancunor the Bahamas, but it's way
(10:56):
more popular than, say, elSalvador, honduras and Nicaragua
, which are at the bottom of thecurve, right, and so popularity
actually determines a lot interms of pricing how much you're
going to pay for the realestate, the acquisition cost of
a piece of real estate, not verypopular, low demand, better
pricing.
Cancun, bahamas high demand,high popularity, high price,
(11:18):
countries in the middle, in themiddle, and Belize is in the
middle of that of thatpopularity curve.
The other thing is that whenyou have any measure of
popularity, popularity has adirect correlation to occupancy
rates, right, renters, right, sothat honeymoon couple like
again, figure a vacation, orslash honeymoon couple, they're
(11:40):
going somewhere, they're goingto spend a week or however many
nights, right.
So very popular places, highoccupancy, not very popular
places, lower occupancy and thenyou have what's called ADR,
average daily rate, and so youget this idea of what your rate
low rates, high rates, highoccupancyancy and so these
things all kind of correlate,but they correlate around
popularity.
(12:02):
Belize has about.
This might be 14 years ago now,12, 13, maybe 14 years ago the
cruise ship started coming toBelize and I remember I was part
of the Belize, I was on theboard of the Belize Hotel
Association, bha, and a memberof the Belize Tourism Industry
Association, and I remember theoutcry on the part of the hotel
association we don't want thecruise ships.
(12:24):
They're just going to bringpeople for the day.
They get off, they get back on.
What's it good for us?
And me and this woman, julia,who is just an incredible
property manager as well, sheand I were like these two lone
voices about 30 people sayingtimeout, timeout.
This is awesome.
We want the cruise shipsbecause you know what?
They dropped three, 4,000people every cruise ship.
(12:44):
And now we get like I don'tknow two, three cruise ships a
day, right, I like every one ofthose people getting off.
You know some percentage 1%,half a percent, quarter percent.
Pick a percent, I don't care.
One, one, one hundredth or onepercent, right, but some number
of those people are going to go.
Wow, that was really cool.
I want to go back there someday.
And then they're going to comeback and stay in a hotel.
(13:06):
Well, what's happened over thislast 12, 13, 14 years is the
number of people coming toBelize has truly skyrocketed.
I mean COVID, things fell off,right, but skyrocketed right.
And the amount of airlift.
I mean Southwest is now flyingWestJet out of Canada, you've
got discount carriers, you'vegot flights coming in from US
and Canada all over CentralAmerica.
(13:27):
They're talking about bringingin a European flight now.
So you've got all this airliftto bring in lots of consumers,
right, but what hasn't happenedto you and this is truly
incredible is the number of room, the room inventory has barely
increased, barely increased.
And there's just this reallyweird anomaly that after COVID,
(13:49):
the amount of short-term,short-term and long-term rental
right or owner-occupied thoseare the three categories right
or owner occupied those are thethree categories right the, the,
the amount.
This is insane.
The amount of short-termrentals decreased after COVID
and like a bunch of us kind ofgot our heads together.
I'm like what in the heck isgoing on?
Digital nomads digital nomadsthey're renting for three months
(14:13):
or six months.
So they're coming down andthey're taking what was
typically nightly short-termrental space, right, and they're
taking it off the marketbecause they're renting it for
three or six months, and so weactually saw a decrease in the
available product for short-termrentals after COVID.
(14:33):
Now it's flattened out and it'sprobably picking back up again.
But anyway, covid Now it'sflattened out and it's probably
picking back up again, butanyway, these two things demand
going up and room inventorygoing down.
I mean this kind of gap, I meanthis gap right here.
That's money, that's money.
And the fact that Belize isjust in the sweet spot of the
popularity curve means you'regoing to pay one quarter of what
(14:56):
you'd pay for the same productin Cancun, but your occupancy in
ADR might be only, like youknow, 40% less, right?
So again you've got thisincredible mismatch between your
cost of acquisition, youroccupancy rates, your ADRs, the
amount of room availability,increasing airlift and visitors.
I mean it's just thisincredible window of opportunity
(15:17):
.
And mean it's just thisincredible window of opportunity
.
And I think it's not this week,it's not the used car I'm going
to buy this today, but it's.
I mean it's one to two years.
The prime piece of this windowof opportunity is one to two
years.
And you ask for five years.
I think over five years,whatever anybody does, you know,
(15:37):
this year, next year, they'regoing to be so happy.
Five years, I think, over fiveyears, whatever anybody does,
you know, this year, next year,they're going to be so happy
five years from now because thepopularity should continue to go
.
It's a future, who the heckknows?
Right, but popularity shouldcontinue to increase, airlift is
increasing, and, and then roomavailability, room delivery,
right, we'll actually go up, butyour acquisition cost is here.
New room acquisition costs willbe here, so right.
(15:59):
So you know, all of a sudden,your ROI is based on your
acquisition cost and these otherfactors.
That will be equal foreverybody else.
Anyway, incredible opportunity.
We've been talking about Belizefor about a year now and then I
said you know, it's a two tothree year window and we're a
year into the window, so yeah, Ithink it's.
Hugh Gilliam (16:20):
I think it's very interesting that the people that
were with you talking aboutmaking decisions about the
cruise ships coming in andstopping didn't see that you and
the other late you, the lateyou and the lady saw the
opportunity as freeadvertisement.
Michael Cobb (16:35):
Yeah, exactly.
Hugh Gilliam (16:35):
They the lease which would?
They discovered a place tovacation.
Yep, exactly.
Michael Cobb (16:42):
And.
Hugh Gilliam (16:42):
I can see a one, two or three percent return just
on that stop, and you put nomoney out for that.
Michael Cobb (16:47):
Correct.
In fact, the country actuallygot landing fees, report fees.
You know they get off the boat.
Granted, they're not spending alot of money because most of
that money goes back to thecruise ship, but there's
employment, there's some peopleeating at local restaurants,
whatever.
It is right.
So, actually, belize got paidfor the advertising, right.
And for us, who didn't get itwe didn't see it plus or minus,
(17:10):
right, we, we didn't get thebusiness, we didn't pay anything
, right, we just got all upside,exactly, you, exactly, hundred
percent upside, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (17:19):
The.
What about government andpolitics in Belize?
Yeah, I'm not sure if that's atouchy subject or not, but I
just wonder how that isgovernment and politics.
Michael Cobb (17:30):
Yeah, it's really not.
So up until 1981, it was acolony, a British colony.
Then it became Belize andbecame part of the Commonwealth
the Queens on the money, so andthey still have all the normal
Commonwealth treaties with thecountry of England, the.
There are two parties, udp andPUP, red and blue.
(17:51):
There are two parties, udp andPUP, red and blue, and basically
they're really sort of like ourDemocrat and Republican in the
United States.
Just, you know, center left,center right, and they do what
politicians do, they, you knowthey have some fun and they beat
each other up and then they goout and have drinks and dinner
at night together.
Right, I mean it's, it's, it's,but it's a very.
They've never had a war.
The only only war they ever hadwas in the 1600s when they
(18:18):
defeated the Spanish at StGeorge's Key, the Battle of St
George's Key, and I can'tremember the year, but late
1600s.
That was the last war they hadand they've been a very peaceful
, stable democracy since then.
So, yeah, very, very stablegovernment.
The other thing we mentionedEnglish language.
But the other thing that'sactually really, really
(18:39):
comforting for US and Canadianinvestors is the fact that it's
English common law.
Right, america, mexico andcentral and south america is all
civil law and that is a veryforeign concept to many of us.
It's a totally different legalstructure and it's it is very
different.
Uh, whereas common law, whichis what we have in the us and
(19:02):
most of canada, quebec, is civillaw, but anyway, but.
But.
But, common law is familiar.
And then the fact that all thecontracts are in english, the
legal language of a contract isEnglish, right, and you can read
the contract and go oh yeah,this makes sense.
It's kind of what I had in theStates.
So you've got stable government, you've got stable currency.
It's tied to the US dollar twoto one, so there's no exchange
(19:23):
rate issues.
Stable government, stablecurrency, english language,
english common law.
And then title is what we alsorecognize as fee simple title
for a piece of land, or stratatitle for a condo product where
you're buying air, and then theundivided interest in the land
(19:44):
below.
So, again, from a real estateperspective, very, very, very,
very familiar.
Low real estate taxes, very lowreal estate taxes and very easy
to do business there actually,yeah, you know the baby boomers
you know we have.
Hugh Gilliam (20:02):
I can't remember the exact number, but I think
every single day there's maybe10,000 people turning 65 years
old, yep and a lot are movinginto the Caribbean, into Central
America.
Michael Cobb (20:14):
Yes.
Hugh Gilliam (20:15):
And because it's, it's, I guess, more economical
to retire there.
Michael Cobb (20:19):
Yes.
Hugh Gilliam (20:20):
And I just wonder what about Belize?
Do you see an influx of peopleretiring into Belize?
Michael Cobb (20:26):
We do that.
That has.
That has really been one of thefactors that's taken away some
of this inventory, whether itwas digital nomads.
And, by the way, I thinkthere's sort of this
stereotypical image when we saydigital nomad, we think of a
25-year-old with a laptop, right?
Actually, a lot of the digitalnomads are now people in their
(20:47):
50s and 60s pre-retirement right.
Look, people in their 50s and60s pre-retirement right.
Look, a 25-year-old may or maynot have the flexibility that
someone who's got a seasonedcareer right can literally just
say hey, you know what, I'mmoving to Belize, I'm going to
dive and I'm going to fish, I'mgoing to do all the stuff I like
to do, but yes, I'm still goingto be your project manager,
your salesperson, your salesassistant, your, you know
(21:08):
whatever customer service, Imean, all the kinds of portable
careers it doesn't matter whereyou are to do, right.
And so we're actually seeing alot of people in their 50s and
60s who are the digital nomads.
We're getting some of the25-year-olds too, right.
But yes, people are what Iwould say pre-retiring.
They're saying to themselvesyou know what?
I don't have to wait until I'm65 to go enjoy the lifestyle I
(21:32):
always, you know, dreamed Iwould have when I quit my job
and can go live it.
No, no, no, I can move toBelize right now.
I can enjoy diving on theweekends, I can go fishing in
the morning or whatever it isright, whatever they like to do,
right, or just enjoy the niceweather.
Frankly, it depends on whatpart of the US or Canada you're
(21:53):
from, and so, and then do thisall day or do this or whatever
it is for their jobs, right?
So we're seeing that.
So, yes, it's happening.
And let me just also say thatwhile we work on Ambergus Key,
which is where we, that wedevelop those, that's where,
that's where we started, that'swhere we continue to work.
Belize itself is actually a bigcountry.
It's got mountains, it's gotjungle.
That's where we continue towork.
Belize itself is actually a bigcountry.
It's got mountains, it's gotjungle, it's got farmland right.
(22:16):
So it's got a lot of differentgeographies and if somebody was
looking for something differentthan, just, say, like a beach
town, right, and they wantedsomething maybe in the mountains
, there's some beautiful placesin the mountains, again, jungle
areas and farmland areas.
So it's got a lot of diversityin a very small package.
The country itself is only 180miles north to south, about 75
(22:40):
miles east to west, so it's apretty small package, but it's
got a lot of diversity.
You know kind of all in oneplace and you know, but I would
say this that if, but this is apretty specific statement.
Lifestyle is one decision whendo you want to be?
I want to be in the mountains,I want to be in the jungle, I
want to be on a beach all bymyself Great.
If that's a lifestyle decision,that's the clothes you want to
(23:03):
put on for that lifestyle andyou feel comfortable in them.
A lot of people ask me thisquestion where should you invest
?
Where would I want to invest?
And I would only give oneanswer Ambergus Key, belize,
this little island off the coastof Belize.
It's a couple miles wide, 26miles long.
This tiny little island off thecoast of Belize generates over
(23:26):
70% of the tourism revenue forthe country of Belize, right,
and so if you're looking for aplace as an investment, you want
to be where the tourists go,presumably.
You're looking for an overnightinvestment.
You're looking for a rentalproperty, right.
If you're looking for sugarcanefarming, well, that's a
different part of the country,right.
But if you're looking for areal estate investment that will
(23:46):
cash flow.
Ambergus Key, belize is, unlessyou had some super specific
reason, would be exactly thespot you'd want to be, because
70% of all the tourism revenuecomes from this tiny little
island.
And then to drill it down alittle bit further and be very
honest to you, this is a veryself-serving statement, but I
(24:06):
wouldn't say it if I didn'tabsolutely believe it 100%,
wouldn't say it if I didn'tabsolutely believe it 100%.
Branded product.
We have the Best Westernfranchise on the island.
We have the Marriott franchiseon the island.
There's one other Marriott.
It's an autograph.
There's a Curio by Hilton,that's it on the whole island.
And so, as Belize transitionsinto more and more popularity
(24:29):
which it is, and more and more,I'm going to call them just
regular Joe travelers come toBelize, not the super niche
divers fishermen, right, butjust sort of the average cruise
ship customer coming back fortheir vacation.
They tend to look for a brandwhen they're looking for a hotel
product, because they know whatthey're going to get.
They're going to get what theythink they're going to get,
(24:49):
right, you's Hotel and BeachResort.
I don't know what I'm gettingat Bob's Hotel and Beach Resort,
right, but if you tell me I'mgoing to stay at the Marriott
Oceanfront Residences, I knowwhat I'm getting right.
Or I have a pretty good idea IfI'm staying at the Best Western
, I'm going to get a valueproposition right.
And so we've invested to havetwo of the brand franchises, two
(25:11):
of the four brand franchises onthe island, and those types of
investment properties are whereI would put my money and, in
fact, where our company isputting our money.
Some of the company money is mymoney.
So, again, very, very focused,but but very, very, I think,
right on spot on.
Hugh Gilliam (25:30):
We've got about four more minutes, but it brings
me to this question about yourdevelopment company there.
You're talking about thatspecific location.
What kind of inventory?
First of all, how many projectsdo you have on that island
currently?
And about how much inventory doyou have available for purchase
?
Michael Cobb (25:49):
Yeah, so we have three projects.
One is an over-the-water tinyhome project phase one sold out.
We're in construction right now.
Those are really sexy littlebungalows over the water.
And we'll have phase twosometime at the end of this year
and that'll be another 25 ofthose.
So it's a limited number butfairly sexy, cool.
We have our uh, our marriott uhresort and residences on water.
(26:13):
Uh, it's a 202 key property.
Uh, we, our development company, we're keeping 100, at least
130 of them and selling up to 72uh, so it's about 40 for
private ownership, uh, 60 forinternal eci corporate ownership
.
I think we've sold about halfof those.
So I think we've got anothermaybe 35 of the private marriott
(26:36):
residences.
Those are oceanfront residences, uh, and and very affordable
350 to about a million bucks.
So own an oceanfront residencein a marriott resort and
residence property for 350 to,you know, say, 600.
It's kind of the sweet spot ofwhere those are.
And then three blocks off thewater, we have have our Best
Western.
We have 70 units up and renting.
(26:56):
We have another 26 underconstruction and we have space
to build out about another 80that we're designing the next
building right now.
So some great inventory Pricepoints on the Best Western
Actually, I I mean marriott's,nice, don't get me wrong.
I think, mary, it's a greatproperty, uh, and and it will do
very, very well.
But the single best investmentproperty we have is a small
(27:20):
studio, best western condo forabout 150, 160 000.
Uh, that particular product.
If I had to bullseye the bestinvestment in Belize today, that
would be it, and we're sellingsome, we're keeping as many as
we can keep.
Again, I believe that when thedeveloper retains ownership of
(27:42):
as many at least a half or morelet's just call it that half or
more that's a pretty strongstatement about their belief in
what that product is going to doin the marketplace.
Hugh Gilliam (27:53):
And so, yeah, that's yeah, yep, yeah, that's,
that's perfect.
That's the exact statement oftruth in terms of you believe in
it, you're going to own aportion of it and you're going
to stay with it, so that thatgoes a long way.
Plus, the name recognition isabsolutely impeccable.
In the episode description weneed to put a link to those
(28:15):
listings or to thosedevelopments so that our people
can see, the people that arewatching can see those three
different developments and alsoyour Belize handbook Handbook.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, okay.
Listen, thanks so much.
I mean, you've given us a lotof information again, as you did
the first episode about CentralAmerica.
(28:36):
We appreciate you.
We appreciate the passion youhave in teaching us about the
nuts and bolts of buying andselling in Central America.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Michael Cobb (28:49):
We appreciate it.
Thank you yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (28:51):
Thanks.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
We appreciate it.
Thank you, yeah, thanks.
Thanks for joining in ontoday's episode of RealtyCast
Global.
Make sure to subscribe to thepodcast to be notified when new
episodes air.
Welcome to RealtyCast Global, where we
bring insights and advice fromtop professionals in the global
market.
Join us for a journey ofculture and real estate from
countries across the globe.
So we're back with Michael Cobb, who happens to be the CEO and
founder of ECI DevelopmentCompany.
(00:22):
He's been in Belize and all theCentral American countries for
about 26 to 27 years and we justfinished up Episode 1.
This is Episode 2, and we'regoing to be concentrating on
Belize, and I appreciate yoursincerity in what you do, the
fact that you took a leap offaith into Central America and
(00:44):
found that you needed to do aservice there, but then that led
you into another area, intodevelopment, and I think that
you've made a great statementhere about what you can do when
you decide to get up and go andmake it happen.
And for those that didn't hearthe first episode, please go
back and hear the back story onMike Cobb.
(01:06):
I think you'll enjoy that as wefocus on Belize now.
There's a handbook and Michaelis great about writing about
what he's done, what he'saccomplished in terms of
findings when you move into aforeign country, things that
need to be done and what gotyour interest in Belize in the
(01:27):
first place.
Michael Cobb (01:28):
Yeah, well, I referred to this in the first
podcast, but thanks again forhaving me.
I enjoy talking about thesekinds of things because so many
people today are really lookingat living overseas right, or at
least owning property overseasmaybe vacation investment,
whatever and it's certainly anarea that's growing.
(01:51):
More and more people arelooking at it and the importance
of doing it right and gettingit right the first time is so
important.
So thank you for the firstpodcast where we talked about
the Consumer Resource guide andreally a tool to help people get
it right the first time.
My story, and again we letpeople go back and listen to the
(02:11):
first podcast.
I went to Belize for my veryfirst trip sometime at the very
end of 92 or early 93 with abuddy of mine.
Joel Nagel is his name and he'sa international tax attorney
and he does uh asset protectionwork for for mostly for
physicians that that's his, hisclient, uh client base, and so
(02:31):
he went to belize.
He called me up one day andsaid you want to go to belize?
I had no clue where it was, butI said yes, so we went and and
this was uh 93.
And, uh, when I got there I Iambergus key because belize is a
country and we can come backand talk about thin slicing in a
minute.
But but Belize, you know,ambergus, key, belize in 1993
(02:52):
had only sand streets.
It was an old fishing village,truly a little fishing village.
Population of the island maybetwo, three thousand people.
I mean it was tiny and and andno building over two stories.
This place was quaint, like Imean just a throwback to you
know like Gilligan's Island, Imean really like Gilligan's
(03:14):
Island with a few more people,right, and so it was.
So I just I loved it and I saidwow, I can see how this really
could become something a lotmore than it is today from a
tourist perspective, and that'swhy we bought it.
And there were condo buildingsgoing up and we actually bought
a couple of condos on our nexttrip, kind of whatever, maybe
(03:34):
March, april of 93.
And I started going a lot,right, and as I started going a
lot, over the first three orfour years we started a little
business, a mortgage company,but even more so, just to see 93
, 94, 95, 96, just to seedifferent things happening more
businesses, more development,more condo projects, more homes
(03:56):
going up, more people coming tothe island, more restaurants and
I could just see this path ofprogress happening.
And I could just see this pathof progress happening and back
in the early 90s, late 80s,early 90s, it really was a super
niche destination.
You were either a serious diveror a serious fisherman, mostly
fly fishing, and if you were aserious diver or a serious fly
(04:19):
fishing, you knew exactly whereAmbergus Cay was.
If you were like me in 1993, Ihad no clue where belize was,
let alone ambergus key.
Well, it was british honduraswhen I studied it in high school
, right, and I'm not sure thatwould have done it either, but
but it was british hondurasuntil 1981, right, yeah, right.
And then it became belize,still part of the commonwealth,
(04:40):
right, and so, uh, and englishis the official language, which
I think has been a big part ofBelize's draw right, that
English is the official language.
But but you know it just, itjust spoke of opportunity, it
just spoke of, like, so muchthere that could happen and was
happening, right.
And I just said, you know, andthat's why I left the computer
(05:01):
business in 98.
I just said to myself mygoodness, like I want to get on
this train because this train isrolling, and so was the
computer train, by the way, andthat's a different story.
But gosh, yeah, I just saw thepotential in Belize, and here we
are now, 30 years later, rightfrom 93 to 23,.
(05:23):
Right, years later, right from93 to 23, right, I mean 30 years
later to have seen much of thispotential begin to be realized.
Yet just an incredible amountleft to happen.
So you know, in fact, one of thethings people ask and you
didn't ask.
But a lot of people ask me whyBelize?
And my answer is it's in thesweet spot of the development
(05:45):
curve.
Right, I mean, back in the oldcomputer days you could be on
the bleeding edge.
You never wanted to be on thebleeding edge because that was
just, you were ahead of the timeand it was horrible.
Leading edge was a good placeto be.
Sweet spot is the best place tobe, and I would say that Belize
is truly in the sweetest of thesweet spots right now in the
(06:07):
development curve, and so itreally is exciting to have
watched this transition over 30years, to be a part of it, to
actually be a big part of it aswell.
And in fact, I'm sorry I'mgoing long on the answer, but I
just got to tell this.
This is crazy.
So I was sitting with some VIPs.
I'm just going to leave it atthat.
(06:29):
I was sitting with some VIPs acouple of weeks ago for
breakfast and they were askingwell, you know, how many people
do you have?
You know, with your with it's abank now how many people you
have in your bank?
How many people do you realizethat you all employ over one
percent of the belize workforce?
And we're like what?
(06:50):
And like, yeah, you guys employwell over one percent of the
belize workforce.
And I just thought, my goodness, so we've been a big part of
this.
You know this, this potential,actualization of the potential,
as well as watching it.
But we've watched it, we'veparticipated in it, we've
contributed to it.
It's very exciting, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (07:12):
You did live there for a while in Belize, and I'm
thinking about your wife andchildren were there also.
Michael Cobb (07:18):
Well, this was 1998 and we were living on
Ambergus Key, so pre, pre-kid,just married pre-kids, and we
lived there for six months andand I say this, I say this very
honestly that we lived onAmbergus Key for six months and
it was five and a half monthstoo long.
You know, people are like whatare you saying?
(07:39):
Like, yeah, it wasn't right forus.
We were living on a tiny littleCaribbean island with a
population of maybe you know,three, four thousand people.
At that point, I mean itdoubled in population, right,
but still three, four thousandpeople, little tiny island,
still sand streets, like it.
Just it's not me, it's not thelife I want.
(08:00):
Conversely, I know we're nottalking about Nicaragua today.
Conversely, my wife, carol andmy two-year-old daughter, amanda
, moved to nicaragua in 2002 forwhat we thought would be two or
three years and we ended upstaying, by choice, for 14 years
.
So so the expat lifestyle isright for us in the country,
that's a good fit, and I thinkthat's a really important point
(08:22):
to make is that, you know,different countries feel
different, different countrieslike clothing, they wear
differently.
Ambergus Key, belize, was not agood fit for my wife and I.
We just did not enjoy thatparticular lifestyle, but that's
not to say people don't.
I mean tons of expats, lots ofvacationers, tons of digital
nomads and people coming toBelize.
(08:43):
Amberg is key, specific, andthey love it.
It's a good fit for them.
And they might feel the sameway about Nicaragua.
They go there for six monthsand it would be five and a half
months too long, right.
So, again, different strokesfor different folks.
But, yeah, lived in Belize forsix months, but have visited
there literally more than once amonth.
For 30 years I've been inBelize.
(09:05):
I don't know how many timesthat is, you know, 30 times 12,.
However many times that is, youknow?
Yeah, a lot, a lot.
Hugh Gilliam (09:09):
But I was going to say also it's changed a lot
since the last 30 years, I meanwhen you were living there.
Today's a different world inBelize.
Michael Cobb (09:18):
Population 20, 25,000 on the island now.
So it would definitely be adifferent experience if Carol
and I were to live there again,and it might be one that we
would like and enjoy.
I don't know.
That's a very good point, hugh.
It's changed a lot in those 25years, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (09:36):
Well, speaking of changes and what's happened
within the last 25 to 30 years,what do you think about the next
five to 10 years?
As far as changes in Belize,what do you forecast?
Michael Cobb (09:47):
Yeah, well, you know what we're seeing and why.
Truly, belize is in the sweetspot of the development curve.
I actually I think thedevelopment curve is a little
technical.
I actually use something andit's the same curve, by the way,
and I put the in fact here.
I mean it's in our consumerresource guide.
I'll send that to you so youcan put up in the show notes,
this chart right here.
Right, it's truly a developmentcurve, path of progress curve,
(10:12):
whatever you want to call it.
I actually try to make itreally simple.
I call it the popularity curve,and how I put the countries or
the places in a country on thiscurve was I just simply asked
myself if somebody got marriedin Pittsburgh, pennsylvania,
this week, this Saturday, comingup, where are they going on
their honeymoon Monday morning?
(10:33):
Right, you know what?
Tons of them going to Cancun.
Tons of them going to theBahamas.
Bunch of them going to CostaRica.
Not very many, if any, going toNicaragua or El Salvador, and
Belize is kind of right in themiddle.
More and more people going toBelize, but it's not nearly as
popular as Costa Rica or Cancunor the Bahamas, but it's way
(10:56):
more popular than, say, elSalvador, honduras and Nicaragua
, which are at the bottom of thecurve, right, and so popularity
actually determines a lot interms of pricing how much you're
going to pay for the realestate, the acquisition cost of
a piece of real estate, not verypopular, low demand, better
pricing.
Cancun, bahamas high demand,high popularity, high price,
(11:18):
countries in the middle, in themiddle, and Belize is in the
middle of that of thatpopularity curve.
The other thing is that whenyou have any measure of
popularity, popularity has adirect correlation to occupancy
rates, right, renters, right, sothat honeymoon couple like
again, figure a vacation, orslash honeymoon couple, they're
(11:40):
going somewhere, they're goingto spend a week or however many
nights, right.
So very popular places, highoccupancy, not very popular
places, lower occupancy and thenyou have what's called ADR,
average daily rate, and so youget this idea of what your rate
low rates, high rates, highoccupancyancy and so these
things all kind of correlate,but they correlate around
popularity.
(12:02):
Belize has about.
This might be 14 years ago now,12, 13, maybe 14 years ago the
cruise ship started coming toBelize and I remember I was part
of the Belize, I was on theboard of the Belize Hotel
Association, bha, and a memberof the Belize Tourism Industry
Association, and I remember theoutcry on the part of the hotel
association we don't want thecruise ships.
(12:24):
They're just going to bringpeople for the day.
They get off, they get back on.
What's it good for us?
And me and this woman, julia,who is just an incredible
property manager as well, sheand I were like these two lone
voices about 30 people sayingtimeout, timeout.
This is awesome.
We want the cruise shipsbecause you know what?
They dropped three, 4,000people every cruise ship.
(12:44):
And now we get like I don'tknow two, three cruise ships a
day, right, I like every one ofthose people getting off.
You know some percentage 1%,half a percent, quarter percent.
Pick a percent, I don't care.
One, one, one hundredth or onepercent, right, but some number
of those people are going to go.
Wow, that was really cool.
I want to go back there someday.
And then they're going to comeback and stay in a hotel.
(13:06):
Well, what's happened over thislast 12, 13, 14 years is the
number of people coming toBelize has truly skyrocketed.
I mean COVID, things fell off,right, but skyrocketed right.
And the amount of airlift.
I mean Southwest is now flyingWestJet out of Canada, you've
got discount carriers, you'vegot flights coming in from US
and Canada all over CentralAmerica.
(13:27):
They're talking about bringingin a European flight now.
So you've got all this airliftto bring in lots of consumers,
right, but what hasn't happenedto you and this is truly
incredible is the number of room, the room inventory has barely
increased, barely increased.
And there's just this reallyweird anomaly that after COVID,
(13:49):
the amount of short-term,short-term and long-term rental
right or owner-occupied thoseare the three categories right
or owner occupied those are thethree categories right the, the,
the amount.
This is insane.
The amount of short-termrentals decreased after COVID
and like a bunch of us kind ofgot our heads together.
I'm like what in the heck isgoing on?
Digital nomads digital nomadsthey're renting for three months
(14:13):
or six months.
So they're coming down andthey're taking what was
typically nightly short-termrental space, right, and they're
taking it off the marketbecause they're renting it for
three or six months, and so weactually saw a decrease in the
available product for short-termrentals after COVID.
(14:33):
Now it's flattened out and it'sprobably picking back up again.
But anyway, covid Now it'sflattened out and it's probably
picking back up again, butanyway, these two things demand
going up and room inventorygoing down.
I mean this kind of gap, I meanthis gap right here.
That's money, that's money.
And the fact that Belize isjust in the sweet spot of the
popularity curve means you'regoing to pay one quarter of what
(14:56):
you'd pay for the same productin Cancun, but your occupancy in
ADR might be only, like youknow, 40% less, right?
So again you've got thisincredible mismatch between your
cost of acquisition, youroccupancy rates, your ADRs, the
amount of room availability,increasing airlift and visitors.
I mean it's just thisincredible window of opportunity
(15:17):
.
And mean it's just thisincredible window of opportunity
.
And I think it's not this week,it's not the used car I'm going
to buy this today, but it's.
I mean it's one to two years.
The prime piece of this windowof opportunity is one to two
years.
And you ask for five years.
I think over five years,whatever anybody does, you know,
(15:37):
this year, next year, they'regoing to be so happy.
Five years, I think, over fiveyears, whatever anybody does,
you know, this year, next year,they're going to be so happy
five years from now because thepopularity should continue to go
.
It's a future, who the heckknows?
Right, but popularity shouldcontinue to increase, airlift is
increasing, and, and then roomavailability, room delivery,
right, we'll actually go up, butyour acquisition cost is here.
New room acquisition costs willbe here, so right.
(15:59):
So you know, all of a sudden,your ROI is based on your
acquisition cost and these otherfactors.
That will be equal foreverybody else.
Anyway, incredible opportunity.
We've been talking about Belizefor about a year now and then I
said you know, it's a two tothree year window and we're a
year into the window, so yeah, Ithink it's.
Hugh Gilliam (16:20):
I think it's very interesting that the people that
were with you talking aboutmaking decisions about the
cruise ships coming in andstopping didn't see that you and
the other late you, the lateyou and the lady saw the
opportunity as freeadvertisement.
Michael Cobb (16:35):
Yeah, exactly.
Hugh Gilliam (16:35):
They the lease which would?
They discovered a place tovacation.
Yep, exactly.
Michael Cobb (16:42):
And.
Hugh Gilliam (16:42):
I can see a one, two or three percent return just
on that stop, and you put nomoney out for that.
Michael Cobb (16:47):
Correct.
In fact, the country actuallygot landing fees, report fees.
You know they get off the boat.
Granted, they're not spending alot of money because most of
that money goes back to thecruise ship, but there's
employment, there's some peopleeating at local restaurants,
whatever.
It is right.
So, actually, belize got paidfor the advertising, right.
And for us, who didn't get itwe didn't see it plus or minus,
(17:10):
right, we, we didn't get thebusiness, we didn't pay anything
, right, we just got all upside,exactly, you, exactly, hundred
percent upside, yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (17:19):
The.
What about government andpolitics in Belize?
Yeah, I'm not sure if that's atouchy subject or not, but I
just wonder how that isgovernment and politics.
Michael Cobb (17:30):
Yeah, it's really not.
So up until 1981, it was acolony, a British colony.
Then it became Belize andbecame part of the Commonwealth
the Queens on the money, so andthey still have all the normal
Commonwealth treaties with thecountry of England, the.
There are two parties, udp andPUP, red and blue.
(17:51):
There are two parties, udp andPUP, red and blue, and basically
they're really sort of like ourDemocrat and Republican in the
United States.
Just, you know, center left,center right, and they do what
politicians do, they, you knowthey have some fun and they beat
each other up and then they goout and have drinks and dinner
at night together.
Right, I mean it's, it's, it's,but it's a very.
They've never had a war.
The only only war they ever hadwas in the 1600s when they
(18:18):
defeated the Spanish at StGeorge's Key, the Battle of St
George's Key, and I can'tremember the year, but late
1600s.
That was the last war they hadand they've been a very peaceful
, stable democracy since then.
So, yeah, very, very stablegovernment.
The other thing we mentionedEnglish language.
But the other thing that'sactually really, really
(18:39):
comforting for US and Canadianinvestors is the fact that it's
English common law.
Right, america, mexico andcentral and south america is all
civil law and that is a veryforeign concept to many of us.
It's a totally different legalstructure and it's it is very
different.
Uh, whereas common law, whichis what we have in the us and
(19:02):
most of canada, quebec, is civillaw, but anyway, but.
But.
But, common law is familiar.
And then the fact that all thecontracts are in english, the
legal language of a contract isEnglish, right, and you can read
the contract and go oh yeah,this makes sense.
It's kind of what I had in theStates.
So you've got stable government, you've got stable currency.
It's tied to the US dollar twoto one, so there's no exchange
(19:23):
rate issues.
Stable government, stablecurrency, english language,
english common law.
And then title is what we alsorecognize as fee simple title
for a piece of land, or stratatitle for a condo product where
you're buying air, and then theundivided interest in the land
(19:44):
below.
So, again, from a real estateperspective, very, very, very,
very familiar.
Low real estate taxes, very lowreal estate taxes and very easy
to do business there actually,yeah, you know the baby boomers
you know we have.
Hugh Gilliam (20:02):
I can't remember the exact number, but I think
every single day there's maybe10,000 people turning 65 years
old, yep and a lot are movinginto the Caribbean, into Central
America.
Michael Cobb (20:14):
Yes.
Hugh Gilliam (20:15):
And because it's, it's, I guess, more economical
to retire there.
Michael Cobb (20:19):
Yes.
Hugh Gilliam (20:20):
And I just wonder what about Belize?
Do you see an influx of peopleretiring into Belize?
Michael Cobb (20:26):
We do that.
That has.
That has really been one of thefactors that's taken away some
of this inventory, whether itwas digital nomads.
And, by the way, I thinkthere's sort of this
stereotypical image when we saydigital nomad, we think of a
25-year-old with a laptop, right?
Actually, a lot of the digitalnomads are now people in their
(20:47):
50s and 60s pre-retirement right.
Look, people in their 50s and60s pre-retirement right.
Look, a 25-year-old may or maynot have the flexibility that
someone who's got a seasonedcareer right can literally just
say hey, you know what, I'mmoving to Belize, I'm going to
dive and I'm going to fish, I'mgoing to do all the stuff I like
to do, but yes, I'm still goingto be your project manager,
your salesperson, your salesassistant, your, you know
(21:08):
whatever customer service, Imean, all the kinds of portable
careers it doesn't matter whereyou are to do, right.
And so we're actually seeing alot of people in their 50s and
60s who are the digital nomads.
We're getting some of the25-year-olds too, right.
But yes, people are what Iwould say pre-retiring.
They're saying to themselvesyou know what?
I don't have to wait until I'm65 to go enjoy the lifestyle I
(21:32):
always, you know, dreamed Iwould have when I quit my job
and can go live it.
No, no, no, I can move toBelize right now.
I can enjoy diving on theweekends, I can go fishing in
the morning or whatever it isright, whatever they like to do,
right, or just enjoy the niceweather.
Frankly, it depends on whatpart of the US or Canada you're
(21:53):
from, and so, and then do thisall day or do this or whatever
it is for their jobs, right?
So we're seeing that.
So, yes, it's happening.
And let me just also say thatwhile we work on Ambergus Key,
which is where we, that wedevelop those, that's where,
that's where we started, that'swhere we continue to work.
Belize itself is actually a bigcountry.
It's got mountains, it's gotjungle.
That's where we continue towork.
Belize itself is actually a bigcountry.
It's got mountains, it's gotjungle, it's got farmland right.
(22:16):
So it's got a lot of differentgeographies and if somebody was
looking for something differentthan, just, say, like a beach
town, right, and they wantedsomething maybe in the mountains
, there's some beautiful placesin the mountains, again, jungle
areas and farmland areas.
So it's got a lot of diversityin a very small package.
The country itself is only 180miles north to south, about 75
(22:40):
miles east to west, so it's apretty small package, but it's
got a lot of diversity.
You know kind of all in oneplace and you know, but I would
say this that if, but this is apretty specific statement.
Lifestyle is one decision whendo you want to be?
I want to be in the mountains,I want to be in the jungle, I
want to be on a beach all bymyself Great.
If that's a lifestyle decision,that's the clothes you want to
(23:03):
put on for that lifestyle andyou feel comfortable in them.
A lot of people ask me thisquestion where should you invest
?
Where would I want to invest?
And I would only give oneanswer Ambergus Key, belize,
this little island off the coastof Belize.
It's a couple miles wide, 26miles long.
This tiny little island off thecoast of Belize generates over
(23:26):
70% of the tourism revenue forthe country of Belize, right,
and so if you're looking for aplace as an investment, you want
to be where the tourists go,presumably.
You're looking for an overnightinvestment.
You're looking for a rentalproperty, right.
If you're looking for sugarcanefarming, well, that's a
different part of the country,right.
But if you're looking for areal estate investment that will
(23:46):
cash flow.
Ambergus Key, belize is, unlessyou had some super specific
reason, would be exactly thespot you'd want to be, because
70% of all the tourism revenuecomes from this tiny little
island.
And then to drill it down alittle bit further and be very
honest to you, this is a veryself-serving statement, but I
(24:06):
wouldn't say it if I didn'tabsolutely believe it 100%,
wouldn't say it if I didn'tabsolutely believe it 100%.
Branded product.
We have the Best Westernfranchise on the island.
We have the Marriott franchiseon the island.
There's one other Marriott.
It's an autograph.
There's a Curio by Hilton,that's it on the whole island.
And so, as Belize transitionsinto more and more popularity
(24:29):
which it is, and more and more,I'm going to call them just
regular Joe travelers come toBelize, not the super niche
divers fishermen, right, butjust sort of the average cruise
ship customer coming back fortheir vacation.
They tend to look for a brandwhen they're looking for a hotel
product, because they know whatthey're going to get.
They're going to get what theythink they're going to get,
(24:49):
right, you's Hotel and BeachResort.
I don't know what I'm gettingat Bob's Hotel and Beach Resort,
right, but if you tell me I'mgoing to stay at the Marriott
Oceanfront Residences, I knowwhat I'm getting right.
Or I have a pretty good idea IfI'm staying at the Best Western
, I'm going to get a valueproposition right.
And so we've invested to havetwo of the brand franchises, two
(25:11):
of the four brand franchises onthe island, and those types of
investment properties are whereI would put my money and, in
fact, where our company isputting our money.
Some of the company money is mymoney.
So, again, very, very focused,but but very, very, I think,
right on spot on.
Hugh Gilliam (25:30):
We've got about four more minutes, but it brings
me to this question about yourdevelopment company there.
You're talking about thatspecific location.
What kind of inventory?
First of all, how many projectsdo you have on that island
currently?
And about how much inventory doyou have available for purchase
?
Michael Cobb (25:49):
Yeah, so we have three projects.
One is an over-the-water tinyhome project phase one sold out.
We're in construction right now.
Those are really sexy littlebungalows over the water.
And we'll have phase twosometime at the end of this year
and that'll be another 25 ofthose.
So it's a limited number butfairly sexy, cool.
We have our uh, our marriott uhresort and residences on water.
(26:13):
Uh, it's a 202 key property.
Uh, we, our development company, we're keeping 100, at least
130 of them and selling up to 72uh, so it's about 40 for
private ownership, uh, 60 forinternal eci corporate ownership
.
I think we've sold about halfof those.
So I think we've got anothermaybe 35 of the private marriott
(26:36):
residences.
Those are oceanfront residences, uh, and and very affordable
350 to about a million bucks.
So own an oceanfront residencein a marriott resort and
residence property for 350 to,you know, say, 600.
It's kind of the sweet spot ofwhere those are.
And then three blocks off thewater, we have have our Best
Western.
We have 70 units up and renting.
(26:56):
We have another 26 underconstruction and we have space
to build out about another 80that we're designing the next
building right now.
So some great inventory Pricepoints on the Best Western
Actually, I I mean marriott's,nice, don't get me wrong.
I think, mary, it's a greatproperty, uh, and and it will do
very, very well.
But the single best investmentproperty we have is a small
(27:20):
studio, best western condo forabout 150, 160 000.
Uh, that particular product.
If I had to bullseye the bestinvestment in Belize today, that
would be it, and we're sellingsome, we're keeping as many as
we can keep.
Again, I believe that when thedeveloper retains ownership of
(27:42):
as many at least a half or morelet's just call it that half or
more that's a pretty strongstatement about their belief in
what that product is going to doin the marketplace.
Hugh Gilliam (27:53):
And so, yeah, that's yeah, yep, yeah, that's,
that's perfect.
That's the exact statement oftruth in terms of you believe in
it, you're going to own aportion of it and you're going
to stay with it, so that thatgoes a long way.
Plus, the name recognition isabsolutely impeccable.
In the episode description weneed to put a link to those
(28:15):
listings or to thosedevelopments so that our people
can see, the people that arewatching can see those three
different developments and alsoyour Belize handbook Handbook.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, okay.
Listen, thanks so much.
I mean, you've given us a lotof information again, as you did
the first episode about CentralAmerica.
(28:36):
We appreciate you.
We appreciate the passion youhave in teaching us about the
nuts and bolts of buying andselling in Central America.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Michael Cobb (28:49):
We appreciate it.
Thank you yeah.
Hugh Gilliam (28:51):
Thanks.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
We appreciate it.
Thank you, yeah, thanks.
Thanks for joining in ontoday's episode of RealtyCast
Global.
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