Agents, NOW is the time to bone up on the how-to’s and what-for’s regarding blockchain technology and how that technology relates to real estate. Why now? Because the National Association of REALTORS® ((NAR)’s venture capital arm, Second City Ventures, just invested in the blockchain startup, Propy.
Propy is an online global real estate transaction platform powered by blockchain that “aims to create a property marketplace in which properties can be bought and sold more easily and more quickly” via blockchain. Propy promises reductions of up to 25% in transaction fees for buyers who use its platform. How can it promise such reductions? Because Propy streamlines the flow and storage of property records on a blockchain database.
So far, Propy has completed sixty real estate transactions. It currently features listings in California, Colorado, Utah, Michigan, etc. and Canada as well as a pilot program in Burlington VT plus other places in the world (Dubai, London, Japan, India, South Africa, Prague, etc). that currently deal in crypto-currency.
Natalie Karayaneva, Propy CEO, said,”We believe Propy is at the forefront of bringing automation and blockchain to real estate with its easy-to-use platforms for agents, buyers and sellers.”
Alain Pinel, top agent and broker in San Francisco who recently sold his firm to Compass, said of Propy, “This platform is the only one today capable of…standardizing property listings in global markets. It is well on its way to automatizing the purchase process all the way to online deed delivery. Propy fosters international transaction…(and)… is a potential game changer.”
NAR’s Second City Ventures recently hit a home run by being an early investor in DocuSign. That investment has already generated a net of $40M back to Second City Ventures. This newly announced partnership with Propy may do the same for Second City Ventures plus it gives the startup leverage to NAR’s real estate and tech executives as well as its network of members and contacts.
A spokesperson with Propy said, “We (also) have signed agreements with several real estate brokerages (such as eXp, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, etc.) who intend to use our (software as a service) tools to safely complete more than 2,000 annual transactions. In addition, we have multiple deals in the pipeline which would equate to more than 100,000 transactions.”
There you have it, real estate agents. Get and be ready for blockchain to be part of your business…NOW.
