Real Estate Blockchain Set to Go Live in 2019

A company based in New York, Shelter Zoom, are to soon launch an innovative blockchain-based real estate application. It will essentially allow both buyers and sellers to commence transactions over a blockchain network. Effectively, this means that at some point in the future, buying a house could be as easy as making a virtual reality tour and paying via the blockchain technology. There’s no exact launch date, though it’s speculated it will be within the first quarter of 2019.

What Will The New Technology Do?

This new application will allow buyers and sellers to access one network, being able to see all offers and rejections in relation to the property in real-time. Clients can access the property titles, mortgages, legal documents and also home inspection reports. It’s utilising the still relatively new technology of Blockchain, a peer-to-peer platform that can cleverly store masses of data as well as acting as a safe portal for online transactions.

The display is almost like a timeline, with information regarding the offer and the buyer and seller’s activity. The great thing about it is that it’s easily accessible on smartphone devices, making the process more convenient for everyone involved. This could also contribute to the sales being quicker. However, unlike with most blockchain applications, the real estate one doesn’t use bitcoin. The application as of yet won’t be able to handle transactions. The payments are processed outside of the platform. With further use and advanced in mobile app development, this should change in the years to come.

Is It Safe?

The question everyone asks when it comes to information being processed over the internet is – ‘is it safe?’. Though everyone can access the records, information will be closely guarded and the user’s personal information behind the record is encrypted. Many hope it will bring transparency to the real estate process and reduce the time it takes to process paperwork. Documents are all sent electronically and can be signed and return through the portal.

How Will It Disrupt The Real Estate Industry?

The application is being tested by 90 real estate businesses across the globe. If it proves to be successful, there’s the potential for it to be rolled out on a larger scale. If this happens, real estate agents will have to completely adapt the way they operate, or risk being left behind.

With any new technology, it can be easy to feel intimidated. This is especially applicable to the blockchain. Which is why many businesses are still reluctant to use it to its full potential. On the other hand, many clients already seem to love the idea of making the process quicker and easier.

Looking To The Future

Once real estate agents get past the idea of adopting an entirely new system, they could flourish. It can be difficult adapting to new technology, but the benefits are endless when it comes to blockchain and its capabilities. It’s likely there will be a dramatic increase in estate agents taking advantage of this exceptional technology to help them improve customer experience and the house buying and selling process. A similar approach is already yielding dividends in the parts of the US like Indiana where estate agents are going as far as assisting potential buyers with tips on things to do in Indianapolis as well as using blockchain tech to help close what otherwise could have been complicated deals.