Frequent Asked Questions

About the Farms

The Founders’ Farms is Phase 1 of a larger land project in southern Belize where North Americans can own productive farmstead land, raise animals, grow food, and build on their own terms. Phase 1 offers 80 farmstead parcels starting at ¼ acre in the Independence/Mango Creek area of the Stann Creek District.

The Founders’ Farms is developed by ECI Development, a company with over 30 years of experience helping adventurous souls own property in Central America. ECI has worked with more than 1,250 property owners across the region.

The property is located just outside the town of Independence in the Stann Creek District of southern Belize. From Belize City it is approximately a 2.5-hour drive — either along the newly completed coastal road or the scenic Hummingbird Highway through citrus groves and jungle. Once on the property, Placencia is 15 minutes by water taxi or 45 minutes by car. The landscape is open pine savanna — flat to gently rolling, with Caribbean pine trees, wide skies, and a blue mountain range on the horizon.

Belize is English-speaking, politically stable, and about two hours by air from Houston, Miami, or Dallas. It uses the US dollar as a pegged currency (BZ$2 = US$1). Foreign nationals can own land outright with full title rights — same as Belizean citizens. And usable, farmable land at this price point is increasingly rare anywhere this accessible.

The Founders’ Farms is Phase 1. Founders who come in at Phase 1 are buying into the beginning of something much larger — and at pricing that will not be available once infrastructure is in place and the project is established.

The Farmsteads

The base unit is a ¼-acre parcel. You can reserve as many parcels as you want to build a larger farmstead: ½ acre, ¾ acre, 1 acre, 1.5 acres, 2 acres, 2.5 acres, 3 acres, or more. There is no upper limit.

Quite a lot. You can grow crops, plant orchards, raise livestock, build a home, install solar, drill a well, collect rainwater, run a workshop, put up a guest cabin, do short-term rentals, and operate a small business. The Stewardship Guide is built around one principle: do nothing on your land that you would not want your neighbor doing on theirs. Freedom is the default. Restrictions exist only where one person’s choices genuinely affect the people around them.

Yes. Animals are a core part of what The Founders’ Farms is for. Here is what fits at each parcel size:

Chickens, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, geese, and guinea fowl are permitted on any parcel. Goats, sheep, alpacas, and llamas require at least ½ acre. Pigs, donkeys, and horses require at least 1 acre (maximum 2 adult pigs per farmstead). Cattle require at least 2 acres.

Family dogs, cats, indoor pet birds, and working farm dogs are not subject to livestock standards.

Up to 15 hens on a ¼-acre farmstead, 30 on ½ acre, 45 on ¾ acre, and 60 on 1 acre or larger. One rooster is permitted on farmsteads of 1 acre or larger. On farmsteads of 1 acre or larger you can also raise up to 30 meat birds per seasonal batch (separate from your hen cap), processed or moved within 16 weeks — enough for a family’s meat supply.

Yes. Up to 1 hive per ¼ acre of your land, with a maximum of 4 hives per farmstead.

Yes. Permanent structures must be set back 6 feet from property lines. There are no architectural style requirements beyond that. Mennonite-built prefabricated homes are a popular and cost-effective option in Belize — reliable, well-suited to the climate, and readily available from local builders.

Yes. A workshop, guest cabin, Airbnb, remote work setup, small business — all of that fits here. Activities that create ongoing risk to neighbors or materially impact shared areas are worth a conversation with the Stewardship Foundation. If what you’re doing fits the rhythm of farmstead life, you don’t need anyone’s permission.

Electricity is being brought to the site. Each owner is responsible for their own water — the most common approaches are a drilled well, rainwater collection, or a cistern. There is no centralized water system, by design. This keeps the project independent and resilient.

Yes. Eggs at the gate, honey to neighbors, produce at the local market — selling surplus from what you’re already raising is part of farmstead life and is welcome here. The line is between personal-scale sales and a full commercial operation; larger commercial uses are worth a conversation with the Stewardship Foundation before you start.

Buying Process

Send us a message at info@thefoundersfarms.com or click the Reserve button on this page and place your deposit. A $2,500 refundable deposit per parcel holds your spot. One parcel is $2,500. Four parcels (one acre) is $10,000. Eight parcels (two acres) is $20,000.

You can also indicate whether you’d prefer to be closer to the entrance or toward the back of the property — we factor that preference into your assignment.

Reservations open May 29. The window stays open until the cap is reached or July 1 arrives, whichever comes first. The cap is $200,000 in total deposits, which represents every parcel in Phase 1. Position in the queue is based on the order deposits clear — earliest deposit is first in line.

Because individual lot selection without coordination creates a checkerboard — isolated parcels that can’t be combined into real farms. The Allocation Event approach lets us assemble contiguous blocks, so Founders who want to be side by side can make that happen, and larger farms can be created without gaps.

The Allocation Event is held July 1. On July 6, every Founder receives their assigned parcels by email, with a map and parcel numbers. Assignments work through the queue in order, honoring your parcel count and your entrance-or-back preference as best as possible. From the moment you receive your assignment, you have three days to accept, request reassignment (if alternatives are available), or request a refund. If you do nothing, your assignment is automatically confirmed — most parcels are functionally equivalent and we default to acceptance to keep things moving.

 You have 14 days to sign your purchase agreement and fund your down payment. The purchase agreement is sent to you about a week before the Allocation Event so you can read it in advance and come to signing ready. Once funded, the land is yours.

 Phase 1 Founders pricing starts at $34,900 per ¼ acre (cash). Volume discounts apply for larger reservations — cash purchases only. Financed deals are priced at the standard ¼-acre rate with no volume discount, and cash and financing cannot be combined within a single transaction.

Parcel SizeVolume DiscountCash Price
¼ acre$34,900
½ acre5% off$66,310
¾ acre8% off$96,324
1 acre12% off$122,848
1.5 acres17% off$173,802
2 acres20% off$223,360
2.5 acres25% off$261,750
3 acres28% off$301,536

These are Phase 1 Founders prices. Phase 2 will be priced higher once infrastructure is complete and the project is established.

Yes. The financing structure requires a 20% down payment ($6,980 for a single ¼-acre parcel — your $2,500 deposit applies as a credit toward this). The balance is financed over 60 months at 10% annual interest, with a monthly payment of $593 per ¼-acre parcel. There is no credit check, no qualification process, and no penalty for paying off early. Volume discounts do not apply to financed purchases.

Fee simple title — the strongest form of land ownership. Foreign nationals have the same title rights as Belizean citizens. Title is registered with the Lands Department of Belize. For cash buyers, the titling process begins immediately after closing. For financed buyers, title transfers when financing is paid in full. In the meantime, your signed purchase agreement carries the same practical purpose.

Yes — fully refundable up to the moment you accept your assigned land at the Allocation Event. After acceptance, it applies as a credit toward your purchase. If you accept and do not fund within 14 days, the deposit is forfeited and your parcels return to the pool.

 No. The process can be completed remotely. 

Living in Belize

 No. Foreign nationals can own Belizean land outright with full fee simple title rights. You do not need citizenship or residency to purchase.

 Yes, subject to Belize’s visa and residency rules. Many people start with extended tourist stays (renewable) while pursuing formal residency. Belize has an accessible Qualified Retired Persons (QRP) program for those who qualify. 

Significantly lower than most of North America. Local food, labor, building materials, and services are a fraction of US prices. Imported goods and specialty items cost more. Most people find their monthly costs drop substantially once established.

Warm year-round. Wet season runs roughly June through November; dry season December through May. Southern Belize gets more rainfall than the north, which means fertile land. Temperatures stay in the 75–90°F range for most of the year. Plan for supplemental feed for grazing animals through the dry months (November through April) when grass alone is not enough.

 

About two hours by air from Houston, Miami, or Dallas with a connection through Belize City. The Philip Goldson International Airport is the main entry point. The site is then roughly a 2.5-hour drive south.

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The community’s governance body. It maintains shared infrastructure and upholds light covenants that protect the character of the land — not a top-heavy HOA with rules for their own sake
Once title transfers, you can begin. Light stewardship covenants govern structure character to protect all Founders — not restrict your use of the land.
That’s a perfectly valid reason to own here. Many Founders are securing land today as a practical plan B — a future option that doesn’t require any immediate commitment to change how you live. The land holds its value, and you decide when and how you use it.