June 9: I am in a hotel room in New York: I nervously look at the screen of my little rose gold-colored computer. Fortunately, the WiFi works well, which is always an unknown in a hotel. In an hour, an irrevocable online auction will begin. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going to happen.

It all started in April of this year when I wrote an article sharing the idea that real estate is the perfect asset to convert into a non-fungible token (NFT). This led to a life-changing collaboration with other innovative individuals united to build something transformative.

I argued at the time that the reason real estate was the ideal candidate for a DTV was that it behaves like a digital asset in many wayss. NFTing one offers many benefits, such as instant settlement and a streamlined overall transaction process – just what young people who grew up with smartphones want. Real estate transactions are long, tedious and archaic. I hoped to show that it was possible to change.

We’ve already seen a new generation of buyers looking for alternatives beyond the status quo. Unaccustomed to the costly, long and tedious process of buying a home, with its reliance on outdated transaction methods and multiple intermediaries, they demand a transparent, “one-click” process that is fast, efficient and reflective. time they live. They’d rather not buy a house than go through a hideous process.

After the article was published, I received numerous inquiries from real estate investors, agents, home buyers, venture capitalists, and coders asking how they could get involved. I was convinced that consumers were ready for this innovation, just as they were ready to buy blockchain art. So I decided it was time to find out how to NFT a property.

We have been working on this for years, but there were still challenges to be resolved:

• Creation of the real NFT
• Wrap the NFT within the US legal framework
• Invent the “know your customer” process since most art NFT transactions are anonymous

We solved the problems of founding NFT by shifting ownership from individual ownership to a legal entity based in the United States. This allowed us to simply transfer ownership of the entity through NFT, which automatically transferred ownership to ownership. And, as an added benefit, since the entity held the title to the property, there was no need to re-register the title in the county, which saved time and money. money.

Next, we developed a protocol that would move an asset from one wallet to another, collect personal names, and perform simple background checks, all of which ensure the integrity of the transaction.

With all of the challenges resolved, we found the perfect property for NFT – a studio owned by a US-based legal entity. It was also the first cryptocurrency property purchased through smart contracts in 2017. Purchased by Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch and Arrington Capital, the NFT included the apartment and artwork by a famous street artist. local Chizz.

With the creation of the NFT, we scheduled a 24 hour auction on June 9, 2021. While I was initially worried that we might not have any bidders, over 40 bids were placed in the Ethereum cryptocurrency. . The winner was a first-time homebuyer, millennial from Silicon Valley. After 24 stressful hours plus six 15-minute extensions, sitting in the same hotel, ordering room service so as not to skip a minute of the online miracle, I was relieved – everything was a success. The technology worked. People wanted this trump card.

NFT’s new owner was thrilled with the process – it only took 22 minutes to transfer ownership – a far cry from his experience trying to buy a house in the Bay Area, a process he found way too much. complicated, so he never did. I learned of his experience after he kindly agreed to have a zoom call after the sale. He shared his plans to rent the apartment as a historic apartment, and told me he was prepared to pay double the price for this asset.

NFT or not, Millennials and Gen Z are already buying high-value assets like expensive avatars or automobiles online. They expect the same ease and transparency when buying real estate. However, higher levels of security and greater data integrity are needed to bypass wire and other forms of cyber fraud common in such transactions. Real estate settlement on an immutable blockchain using NFT technology could very well be the solution requested by these new generations.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, speaking at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference, said blockchain regulation is applicable in many industries, including real estate for “any transaction that requires someone to trade trust between the transaction ” [ participants].

People who help consumers with NFT at home may be eligible for royalties paid automatically to their digital wallet. These “NFT miners” (similar to cryptocurrency miners) may receive small royalties for each future purchase as compensation for putting all data and ownership in place to make it transferable (title report, property reports). inspection, disclosures, etc.).

Can NFT revolutionize the real estate industry? I say absolutely! We’re not just seeing interest growing among young buyers and sellers and crypto enthusiasts who want to diversify their portfolios.

Agents and brokers who also want to stand out from the competition are learning and actively engaging in the crypto / NFT / blockchain space. Here’s what Mauricio Umansky, CEO of The Agency shared with me when I asked his opinion on real estate NFTs at the recent Inman Real Estate Connect: Property conference. Technological changes always align with changes in the real estate industry and at a minimum, this is a new marketing tool to reach an audience interested in the Metaverse. On the other hand, it can revolutionize our concept of real estate and what customers will expect in a transaction. I believe NFTs will bring significant changes to our industry. “

Once it is possible to NFT a property, the NFT will become a collateral in the crypto world that will unlock crypto-enabled mortgages, where crypto holders could participate in liquidity pools to secure decentralized lending markets. peer-to-peer for similar real estate. current common challenge lending protocols for cryptocurrencies. NFT, DeFi, crypto title insurance protocols, and crypto valuation solutions will create a full cycle for the new era of liquid real estate. Ultimately, the concept of homeownership is a social consensus just like NFT art.