Imagine a world where people are buying homes with bitcoins, or perhaps you are in Justin Sun’s posse and you drop some serious TRON down on a mansion with an 8 car garage.
In this article, we will explore where we are today and where we could be going when it comes to buying homes with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Florida.
Before we get into the core of the article, I’m going to talk about what cryptocurrency and the blockchain is as well as a little of the history. If you are a crypto nerd, you can use this handy link to skip past this part.
What Is Cryptocurrency
Although we use the word “currency” – in the eyes of many governments it can mean a different thing. Currently for the United States per the IRS, cryptocurrency is treated as property.
Because Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are starting to get more widely adopted, it is likely that governments will act and take a stronger position in how they view and treat these virtual currencies.
There’s also some misunderstandings by the media on what cryptocurrency does. Some of these currencies which launch as ICOs or initial coin offerings act in a similar way as kickstarter would in that they are rewarding their investors with coins for funding. The difference primarily being that sites like Kickstarter often reward their backers a prize or copy of the product where the ICOs often offer bonuses and time sensitive rewards for early backing.
The key that makes so many cryptocurrencies valuable, is many will set a max supply and make it more difficult over time to introduce new coins into circulation. This leads to our next part… the blockchain.
The Blockchain
There are many articles and videos that go much deeper into what the blockchain is and how it works, so for the purpose of this post, we will keep things simple.
The blockchain is the technology that bitcoin runs on and many other cryptos in the space. It is essentially a public ledger that accounts for every transaction that ever takes place with that particular currency.
The most important part of this process is the fact that your transaction is confirmed by multiple computers throughout the network at the same time to guarantee that the transaction is valid. This creates trust, and mainly it creates stronger value as it demystifies the process of money creation.
Unlike the dollar which we can just print more of, many cryptocurrencies are limited to x amount of coins being introduced into the economy and usually these coins will have systems in place where every few years it gets even more difficult and less coins are introduced until it hits the max supply.
There are exceptions to this, and not all cryptos act the same, but this concept applies to the vast majority of virtual currencies in this realm.
History
Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole has been on a wild ride for years. It started to reach the early phases of what some believed was mainstream adoption in late 2017 where Bitcoin’s price soared and reached an all time high of $20,089 on December 17th, 2017.
After that it started to retrace and there was a series of crashes starting in January of 2018. As of this article, Bitcoin is in the 6k range but with the volatility of cryptocurrency it could be anywhere by the time you read this.
Who knows… maybe you’re reading this article in the future sitting on your yacht sipping some fancy champagne wondering what you’re going to do with all your gains.
Well, Chris and I have been in cryptocurrency since late 2017 and I’ll say that we can appreciate the value of making your money work for you whether that be income property or a personal residence in a strongly appreciating area. Currently according to coinmarketcap.com there are 1,628 different cryptocurrencies.
Many of these currencies will come and go, however there is a significant push to change the way we interact and do business just like the internet did decades ago.
While I can say you probably won’t be able to buy a home with Dragon Coins anytime soon, although that would be pretty cool, there is a huge push towards blockchain adoption, and the reality is if something has intrinsic value and mass adoption we may be seeing more acceptance when it comes to cryptocurrency and real estate.
Buying A Home With Bitcoin In Florida
So now that we’ve gone into the technology behind Bitcoin… why on earth would anyone want to buy or sell a home with a Bitcoin?
That’s going to completely depend on the people behind the transaction. Because many cryptocurrencies including the King – Bitcoin are so volatile, a Bitcoin could be up 10% one day and down 15% on another.
This could result in a significant gain or loss to the person giving up the Bitcoin or Bitcoins and the person receiving them.
In the current market, people that would choose to do this are often giving a social nod to the concept of bitcoin. If bitcoin continues to thrive and more of the world warms up, there will be an increased demand to use it.
There’s also the technical side to it. Many people still don’t own a Bitcoin or portion of a Bitcoin (Max 21 million supply). When it comes to transferring bitcoin there is no room for mistakes. If a bitcoin is lost, it’s gone for good, and for that reason alone, you may only see a very tiny percentage of people ever attempting to use it as a means of exchange when it comes to big tickets items such as a home.
Why Exchange Bitcoin For Real Estate?
As this currency has gone up and down rapidly, it has a lot of people wondering when or if they should cash out. There are predictions that this currency could go up to a million dollars a piece and there are also predictions that say it could be worth nothing in the future. When you decide to exchange your Bitcoin for real estate you’re benefiting yourself in more than a few ways.
1. You are guaranteeing that you will always have a place to live. If you are able to buy an entire home with your Bitcoin holdings, you will only need to worry about insurance, property taxes and utilities the rest of your life.
2. If you already have a place to live, you can buy an investment property with your Bitcoin. Buying an investment property and renting it out is a wonderful way to make passive income.
3. Your finances will be more secure. Being involved with Bitcoin at this point in time can be a rollercoaster of emotions. The market is so volatile it can be mentally taxing to be checking the value multiples times per day. The truth is no one knows what will happen with cryptocurrency however people will always need a place to live, so property will always have value.
4. You have an appreciating asset. Sure maybe it’s tempting to go buy a Lamborghini with your new found wealth however before you do that, it’s wise to make sure to use your money for wealth creation before you blow it all on depreciating assets.
5. The Tampa Bay area is a great place to invest in real estate. There are lots of people and industries moving here, a strong tourist economy and it’s just a beautiful place to live with the cost of living for housing below the national average.
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Has Bitcoin Been Used To Buy Real Estate?
Yes, there are cases across the world where Bitcoin has been used to purchase property. Although countries have different laws and no situation is exactly the same, here in Florida the Bitcoin would have to be exchanged into USD before proceeding.
Depending on how the contract is written will determine when that exchange is made. Usually you’ll need a tech-savvy title company that is willing to assume the risk and hold on to the bitcoin.
The exchange of Bitcoin has been made easy for many businesses in retail, restaurants, cafes, etc. however real estate is a bit more complicated. It takes time to close on a home, typically a week or two with a cash transaction.
So how would it really look? The truth is if a realtor is advertising through the multiple listing service in Florida they will have to assign a monetary value to the listing price of the property. They can offer to accept Bitcoin currency to purchase the property however as we mentioned earlier, that BTC would have to be exchanged very early on in the transaction to USD, typically after the inspection period.
Why Are Homeowners Offering To Sell Their Home For BTC?
There’s many reasons why a homeowner may choose to sell their home for BTC. Perhaps they are a cryptocurrency investor and they have an appreciation for the technology and the people that are in the space.
The most likely reason however is it’s actually a very clever marketing tactic. Why? Because it’s such a rare situation that it’s bound to get local and sometimes even national press. The goal of a realtor is to get as many qualified buyers to their sellers property as possible and this is one way to zip past the competition.
What’s The Future Look Like For Buying A Home With Cryptocurrency In Florida?
For the United States, it’s likely cryptocurrency sales will be a marketing tactic for sometime. We believe many governments hold the view that recognizing cryptocurrency as a true currency could put fiat at risk and for that reason it will be a long battle.
Considering how slow the United States government has been to define cryptocurrency, we don’t expect any true implementation into the law over the next few years.
Final Thoughts
Are you a cryptocurrency holder? Great! You’re just like us, we are big believers in the technology and how it will change the way the world works.
Are you looking to sell your home and interested in offering it for cryptocurrency? Sign up here to book a consultation and we can sit down and go over in more details the pros and cons of advertising cryptocurrency as an option to buy your home.
Are you looking to buy a home or investment property with cryptocurrency? Let’s see what’s out there! Sign up here for a buyers consultation, we can talk a little crypto and about the real estate market as well. You can also email us at the727team@gmail.com