With the advent of blockchain technology, the real estate industry as we know it will never be the same. Not only will this revolutionary financial system change how people buy and sell property, but it’s also being used to create new and innovative ways to perform basic real estate-related tasks like title searches and investing in properties outright. In fact, the hottest investments at the moment are the non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are virtual items that are much more than your average digital token or coin. However new REIT’s or Real Estate Investment tokens are quickly becoming even more popular and offer instant liquidity vs real estate NFT’s.
Real Estate Title Searches
With a real estate title search being one of the most important aspects in the buying/selling process, blockchain makes it possible to easily monitor records, eliminating traditional third parties and reducing paper costs. Smart contracts can also automate payment systems and reduce overhead expenses. Real estate titles can potentially be secured using blockchain technology. Each property title would have its own unique digital identifier, or hash, that would tie it to previous transactions of ownership on a public ledger accessible by all interested parties. This means that whenever ownership changed hands, there could be no doubt as to who was actually now holding the title. It would completely revolutionize the real estate process, save time and money.
Blockchain Transactions
When it comes to real estate, blockchain does away with inefficient and costly intermediaries. Real estate title searches are performed by many entities as soon as a property is bought or sold. One of them is title companies, which are trusted third parties. Here’s where blockchain comes in. Smart contracts can do all that for you, meaning you don’t need a title company (and its additional charges) for that step in your buying process. Eliminating this need for additional overhead and/or operating expenses, this could in the long run reduce overall costs for buying a home.
Real Estate Investing
In addition to utilizing blockchain technology for real estate title searches, many have realized that it can be used as a way to invest in real estate without the traditional hurdles that are associated with current real estate investing models. Many investors are looking for new ways to profit from traditional assets, which is why investing in crypto-real estate has become so popular, explains CEO & founder of HomerunToken.com, Justin Robins.
Proof of Ownership
Having a title search done on a piece of property can take days, but it’s important that you, as an investor, buyer, or seller, know exactly who owns what before doing business. With blockchain technology you can perform secure title searches in seconds and purchase properties globally with no middleman involved. This is why so much money from Silicon Valley is being poured into this space. As more people enter the real estate industry and get familiar with blockchain technology, expect even more growth in these industries from their combined use.
New Developments in Crypto – Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)
To date, real estate is one of the only true asset classes that has not been tokenized or digitalized. However, new developments in crypto are changing that. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) offer a way to use blockchain technology for real estate investing and property management at scale. NFTs are cryptographic tokens on blockchains like Cardano or Solana, and each token is unique – much like a stock certificate. There are also tokens that can reward the holder through “staking”, which would pay “rewards” from the real estate profits.
Transferring Property on Blockchain
While traditional real estate systems require that each transfer of ownership, mortgage or lien be recorded individually and in duplicate, blockchain can automate that process. This would save costs for both companies and individuals across multiple industries. For example, lenders could reduce costs by verifying identity once rather than on every loan transaction. This process also makes it easier to provide instant title insurance and settlement services to investors using blockchain technology, according to Forbes magazine. Further, because blockchain is distributed among all users in a system, there’s no single point of failure—which lowers risk while increasing efficiency. No more waiting days or weeks for a record search to come back as a no information found response from a county clerk’s office! Instead of trusting one central authority (the courthouse) with recording vital information about who owns what property and how much they own—blockchain verifies it across hundreds (or thousands) of nodes at once.
In Conclusion
Cryptocurrency and blockchain are changing every industry from banking to healthcare, but real estate is proving to be one of blockchain’s most popular applications. Whether it’s a house or apartment for rent, land for sale, or improvements on a property (think mortgages), there’s potential for blockchain to optimize every facet of real estate transactions. Get in now, because everyone will be talking about how buying houses with cryptocurrency will be mainstream soon.