If you are able to become a general contractor by yourself, then building your own home is more satisfying and cheaper than buying a home in Belize.
Compared to buying a complete house and building a house on your own, building a house by the owner brings more for the owner’s housing dollars as per a broad construction rule.
With a lot more options for complete house buying, a lot of headaches also come. If you set your mind to handle a few construction hassles, you can build a house with custom-made rosewood or mahogany cabinets that are used by only the multimillionaires of the US, in-built furniture, and ceilings and floors with tropical exotic hardwood.
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Cost to Build a House in Belize
How Much Does It Cost to Build a House in Belize? The cost per foot to build a new home in Belize is around $50 to $90. So if you want get a very good house with $75,000 to $135,000 you can build a house of 1500 square feet
In Belize, at bank or government auctions, some dumped or half-constructed buildings are sold at low cost. You can buy them and construct them on your own. This option is apt for them, who are experts in getting foreclosed homes and have sufficient experience to re-construct.
Finding the right contractor or architecture is the main secret of building a low or under-the-budget house in Belize. You have to take time and search for a good contractor. The expats and locals who are able to make a house successfully, take advice from them and look after their recommendations.
Cost of home construction in Belize
The terrain, the quality of work, and the transportation cost of materials used in the building are the factors that affect the construction cost.
Hurricane resistant construction is needed to build a house on the Cayes.
With the help of boats and barges, the building materials are shifted to the Cayes, so the extra cost may be added.
Compared to southern Belize and northern Belize, the construction cost on the southern side is more expensive because, in northern Belize, there is more availability of building materials that are inexpensive and imported from Mexico and Chetumal.
Labor cost
As compared to labor in the US, the labor cost in Belize is inexpensive. The masons and carpenters charge $25 to $40 for a day and the construction workers demand $15 to $20 for a day.
In Belize, the laborers demand a low amount and take a long time to construct a building. As per Belize’s building construction techniques, their laborers are skilled, but they have less knowledge about the building style of Europe and America.
It is difficult to get a qualified plumber, electrician, and other craftspeople outside of urban areas.
Belize Home Building Cost Per square foot
An average cost of a building in Belize is about US$30 to $150 per square foot without the land cost.
If your budget is high, then the house would be hardwood floor and trim with high-quality concrete construction, hand-made windows, and doors with custom detail.
If you have a low budget, you can build a house with Belizean-styled concrete frame construction or a concrete block bungalow.
Per square foot, you have to spend about $50 to $90. Through this calculation, you have to pay $75,000 to $135,000 for a house of 1500 square feet. Besides this amount, you have to pay the land cost. The cost of typical US buildings is double of these buildings of Belize.
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Extra cost
Besides the point of how or where you build your house, you have to pay attention to oversee and manage the construction site or you have to hire someone closer to you.
You have to set in your mind that it takes twice the time of what time you expect. It is truly common that it takes 8 to 12 months to build a house.
You have to estimate a rough budget for the septic tanks, underground foundation, cisterns, and pilling.
There are a lot of amounts that can be spent on the coast or in the rural areas. For a large house, you have to make 2 or more septic tanks. Per gallon of cisterns for drinking water, you have to pay $.50 to $1. You can buy a steel or poly water tank and put it into the concrete tank to minimize your cost and time.
Types of suitable homes for Tropics and cost
In Belize, to avoid the water damage from tropical storms and the risk of hurricanes, you have to raise the first floor of your house above the ground level by putting deep pillars.
The cost may vary from $3000 to $5000 depending upon the type of pilling, area, and depth. Some time to raising the house cost about $100,000 which is so expensive as compared to the cost of building construction in Belize.
Walls and slabs from reinforced concrete, pressure-treated wood, metal beams, and industrial galvalume roof tests are necessary for a house.
To avoid roof blown, you should use rafter ties and hurricane straps. For the extra care of the aesthetics and load on foundation and wall due to concrete roof, you have to pay more money.
Insurance Cost for home in Belize
In Belize, if your house is situated on the Cayes or coast, the traditional construction does not come under reputable insurance companies.
Some companies also don’t provide insurance facilities for wood-frame construction. In this case, you can use the earthbag construction which is environmentally friendly.
The insurance policies vary according to the type of construction.
The annual premium of wood frame construction is 2 to 5% of value. On the other hand, the steel construction premium is around 1.25% of the value. 1.5% or less of value is the annual premium of reinforced concrete.
Earthbag construction cost
If you have a low budget then go for earthbag construction. It is inexpensive and cost-effective. In Belize, building a new home with earthbag construction, costs will be around $25 to $50 per square foot.
If you find a low-budget builder, then it will cost you around $15 per square foot approximately.
Conclusion
Previously in Belize, those have building codes that took advantage of the local municipality. There were no codes for rural areas and some existing codes were ignored by the builders. Later the Nation wide standards of construction were developed by the country.
According to the law of Belize, the approval for construction is generated by the Central Building Authority for only registered engineers and architects. You have to hire a local architect for submitting the plan or some modification to the CBA if you have your own plan. A reputable architect of Bezile can design buildings and homes that can save a lot of money and fit into the local environment.
