Developing Blockchain & Proptech in Commercial Real Estate

NFT’s and The Metaverse have recently become buzzwords in pop culture. Widely regarded for both their usefulness and quirkiness, we decided to dive in and do some research. 

We’re seeing that it’s not just about art and playing video games online. We’re seeing a transition across an entire range of industries toward having more of a digitally facing identity. We’re seeing companies pivot to accommodate efficiency through digital on-boarding processes and WFH (work from home). We’re seeing the development of platforms that make the exchange and access to information simpler. The push toward a more connected web 3.0 platform is happening right in front of our eyes. A modernization beyond the likes of anything we’ve seen so far. 

From land grabs in the digital world, to digital art called NFT's, and to the slow and steady adoption of the digital docusign - it's all apart of the way technology is impacting world. But theory and actually recognizing and implementing technology into practice are two different things. There could be a real usefulness in the ease of access to information through the blockchain - making records easier to keep track of and documents easier to find through searches when kept on a decentralized blockchain platform.  

Imagine being able to pull accurate information through some digital archive that feels like actually going to your city hall and combing through file cabinets with a secretary. 

In the Real Estate Industry, the technology that allows us to do this is called Proptech - or the integration of technology into the real estate market. Proptech websites and mobile applications help better visualize property construction processes and modernize the purchase of real estate through the integration of communication.

There is a lot of hesitation for the adoption of these technologies. With an increasingly aging top cap of CRE executives - even at the smallest scale, digitizing documents has proved to be no easy task. There’s also special interests like total companies - and banks which loose their B2B appeal if the blockchain takes over who probably slow the process down even more. 

The goal of the next 5 years is to bring everyone up to speed on realizing how beneficial and efficient digitizing and automating old processes are. No longer having to wake up - get ready for an appointment - drive down to city hall - walk through metal detectors and security checks - talking to more people - when now you could just roll out of bed see you need some more information before your 10 am meeting - sign onto a county record website with all this information indexed through NFT’s and find everything you'd ever need to close the deal within five minutes.

There are a few countries in the world who have adopted a process similar to what an entirely blockchain based real estate world would look like, and this example's not even entirely digital. It’s called the Torrens Title. The Torrens Title is a land registration transfer system, in which a state creates and maintains a register of land holdings, serving as the conclusive evidence of title and of all other interests recorded on the register. Which works in a similar manner to the blockchain. 

If we could get everyone to see the unique benefits that digital can provide - and upgrade existing systems for efficiency and ease of use, the level of growth will be at an otherwise unseen and unattainable level. 

But theory and actually implementing practice are two different things. These terms might seem abstract but there could be real usefulness in the ease of accesses to information through the blockchain. 

These not so futuristic concepts are here to stay, and bouncing off these ideas to create a more connected web 3.0 platform, makes the exchange and access to information simpler than ever which seems like a good thing for humanity as a whole.