There has been much talk about blockchain and its potential to disrupt different industries, including real estate.
Why is this technology so appealing? Blockchain can decentralise transactions and remove middlemen. In its purest form, it is like a digital ledger where users can record transactions that cannot be censored and can be accessed by the public. These records on blockchain may include specific property-related information such as ownership details, addresses, and encumbrances.
Just imagine how cryptocurrency property titles can be stored with all your other material possessions in your own secured digital wallet. Disposing these assets could be easier through a secured online marketplace where transactions are verified, tracked, and recorded on the immutable blockchain.
But why is this change important?
Blockchain can help facilitate for quicker, more reliable, and cheaper transactions for homeowners and home-seekers. The transactions in the industry have been cumbersome, opaque, and expensive, with the participation of multiple middlemen—brokers, land title offices, conveyance law firms, and the like. More often than not, these middlemen hold certain pieces of information that are needed to close a deal. By introducing blockchain to the real estate industry, bureaucracy can be eradicated.
Take buying property for example. From the sales process, checking the last transacted price point, interacting with owners, to checking the legal title of the property, all these actions are done by different parties or intermediaries. And it takes several months and thousands of dollars just to facilitate a sales and purchase transaction! Wouldn’t it be nice to save all that time and money with just a click of a button?
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