Buying Buildings with Bitcoin?
Is digital currency going to be our new reality in real estate? It seems that we might be heading in that direction.
We recognize that Bitcoin has had its ups and downs, but still remains one of the top crypto-currencies around the world. We all witnessed Bitcoin reached its record high in December of 2017, then plummet thousands of dollars within the same month. Since then, one can say that Bitcoin is a somewhat wavering, but still seems to be a viable alternative online payment method.
Microsoft, Expedia and Tesla are now accepting Bitcoin transactions. However, what many people wonder is whether they can use their Bitcoin to purchase real Estate.
Although purchasing real estate using the regular standard can be tricky enough, there have already been real estate transactions using crypto. The first sale was a single-family home located in Texas in 2019. The main challenge was finding someone who would accept cryptocurrency for such a large amount. BitPay conducted the transaction and converted the Bitcoin into U.S. dollars. The same company has also helped out with other kinds of real estate transactions.
There are even some instances where private sellers or real estate developers may not want to go through an organization like BitPay. Benjamin Shaoul is one of them. As part of the Magnum Real Estate Group, he says that there are buyers who would like to make a home purchase using Bitcoin. If that happens, Shaoul doesn’t plan on exchanging Bitcoin, but keeping it as an investment.
Examples like these give hope to those who have some Bitcoin in their investment portfolio. Having a private seller accepting cryptocurrency could mean the difference between buying a condo vs. renting an apartment for some people.
Some real estate experts warn that buying a house with Bitcoin won’t be so cut-and-dry for each case. There may be sellers who will accept payments to their Bitcoin wallet instead of dollars to a bank account. However, finding escrow companies who will handle such large transactions can be a tricky business. The same goes for finding title insurances. For most cases, the usual requirements will be to cash out the Bitcoin and make the transaction more traditional.
Although cashing out Bitcoin on real estate could be a great investment, we do wonder if you could be losing out on the potential Bitcoin valuation increase. Let us know your thoughts. Would you use Bitcoin to purchase real estate?
