How Blockchain Technology Could Transform Real Estate Listings and Marketing

Tired of the redundancies, errors, delays, waste, and exorbitant fees that have been part and parcel of real estate sales transactions since the dawn of time? From portal conundrums that create property search snafus, to transactional miscommunications that lead to seemingly endless delays, it may finally be time to stop the insanity.

Meet Blockchain Technology

The latest advancement in real estate sales, blockchain tech could allow for the creation of a universally accessible real estate information and records database – once an international standard for the collection of property data is adopted.

What Is Blockchain?

Originally developed as an accounting method for Bitcoin, blockchain is now used in a variety of commercial applications. Utilizing distributed ledger technology (DLT), it allows participants in an industry, such as the extended real estate community, to track digital transactions without central record keeping. Any document can be inserted.

Once introduced, ledgers are permanent, unchangeable, and cannot be deleted, making them meddle-proof. The blockchain community owns/controls the information collectively, which is automatically distributed, making information easily visible, verifiable, and trustworthy.

How Could Blockchain Be Used in Real Estate?

Enabling the execution of real estate transactions without the need for third parties via smart contract, blockchain technology could easily facilitate real estate sales proceedings digitally. Paired with IFPS, syndication of the world's real estate network is possible. (Interplanetary File System [IFPS] is the technology that enables email/information transfer from one computer directly to another without the need for a third-party server, such as Google.)

Each property receives a unique identifier (hash) for permanent recording on a global ledger. Sellers will benefit from increased exposure, buyers receive access to localized, user-curated data – provided all parties get on board. With universalized data standards, the sky could be the limit.

To view the original article, visit the Properties Online blog.