Technological advancements, like crypto and blockchain, are massively disrupting all sectors – and real estate is no exception. Though real estate is notoriously a slow-mover when adopting new technologies, blockchain is already making huge waves in the industry.
In fact, blockchain technology has already begun tackling the underlying challenges in real estate, such as fraud, overvaluation, and hefty paperwork. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at how blockchain is revolutionizing the real estate industry, along with the practical benefits it offers:
- Tokenized Fractional Ownership
- Smart Contracts
- Cost-effective Process
- Greater Transparency
- Increased Liquidity
What is blockchain?
First, we’ll briefly go over what the blockchain is. With the introduction of virtual real estate on the metaverse and as NFTs, blockchain technology is what helps facilitate these digital real estate transactions, which are typically made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. The simplest way of describing blockchain is as a technology that enables the secure and permanent storage of a digital, public ledger of all transactions in a “block” that is publicly available in several peer-to-peer databases, known as the “chain”.
So, how could it reshape the real estate industry? Well, blockchain acts as a reliable source for both parties involved in a deal, as it provides a secure, decentralized way to record, access, and transfer ownership of assets by storing all transactions, contracts, agreements, and other key information collectively in the network. This technology means that real estate transactions can now be completed in minutes, as opposed to weeks or months, like in traditional real estate.
Not to mention, it’s almost impossible for data to be removed, or changed, as the blockchain is designed for data to be secure and inflexible. Such a transparent ecosystem helps provide ownership rights, eliminates paperwork, cuts costs, and leaves no room for error or fraud.
What Are The Benefits Of Blockchain?
1. Tokenized Fractional Ownership
One way in which blockchain proves to be a major benefit is through tokenization. Tokenization involves converting real estate assets into digital tokens that can be traded on a blockchain platform. Essentially, what tokenization of real estate does is that it allows for fractional ownership of assets, as people with smaller budgets can then invest in real estate assets.
So, with the help of blockchain technology, a group of people can pool their resources together to own fractional shares of real estate assets. Further, rather than having to sell an entire property in order to raise capital, owners could tokenize their assets and sell tokens, or fractions of their tokens, representing a percentage of ownership, opening up a whole new world of opportunities for both individual and institutional investors.
Blockchain-powered platforms make it possible for a wide range of people to invest in real estate through tokenization, as they democratize the real estate market and offer investors more control over investments.
2. Smart Contracts
Another revolutionary blockchain feature is a Smart Contract. Smart contracts outline the terms and conditions of agreements between two parties in code language. When certain conditions of the agreement are met, a smart contract is then stored on a decentralized blockchain platform.
In simple terms, smart contracts efficiently facilitate various types of transactions, including real estate transactions, without the need for a third party. For example, a smart contract, having captured all the property details and conditions, can be used to automatically transfer ownership of a home over to the buyer upon meeting set conditions, eliminating the many layers of paperwork.
Thanks to REST Realty, real estate can be sold as digital tokens in a transparent manner from anywhere in the world.
We will continue from here in our next post.