Buying a property is stressful, period. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned property chaser, the process is considered to be more stressful than bankruptcy, divorce, or even the death of a loved one.
With unclear and disjointed processes, repetitive and tedious paperwork, and unexpected tasks and fees, anxiety and frustration can mount for those involved. Additionally, the stress only multiplies if a person is purchasing a house in another country, which often involves blindly trusting third parties for local representation to handle manual and unfamiliar processes.
According to the National Association of Realtors, American home buyers search for information online 95 percent of the time, while they use an online search as the first step 44 percent of the time. With the property market already confusing and stressful as it is, the elimination of inefficiencies associated with residential real estate transactions is something that one blockchain startup is attempting to achieve.
Building transparency and trust
CryptoProperties, or CPROP, a U.S.-based blockchain real estate transaction management platform, was created to solve the problems that many buyers and sellers face when purchasing property. However, rather than attempting to displace existing players, CPROP is hoping to cooperate and add value to the real estate sector through transparency and efficiency.
In an interview with Jon Najarian of CNBC’s Fast Money, co-founder of CPROP Sandy Selman said CPROP wants to “leverage the power of this technology, and address globally acknowledged pain points in this industry in a practical, commercially grounded way.”
In today’s real estate market, when potential homebuyers are interested in a house and click on the home’s link, they are then referred to the listing broker, meaning they cannot close the deal themselves. However, with CPROP’s back-end software integration, a “Help Me Buy This Property” button or widget can be placed on the portal website, enabling buyers to initiate and proceed through the purchase process.
This facilitates everything from contract negotiations down to blockchain-authenticated documentation and cryptocurrency payment options, all while allowing the property portal to be adjacently involved in the customer relationship.
According to the platform’s whitepaper, CPROP is achieving this by:
“CPROP’s initial product is a blockchain-powered real estate transaction management system designed to integrate into any existing property portal or brokerage company website to allow the buyer, seller, and their respective service providers (e.g., real estate agents, lawyers, inspectors, etc.) to transparently and securely close the deal.”
Via CPROP’s platform, the entire transaction processed will be viewable for all permissioned parties to see. The platform will provide significant benefits to those looking to purchase property in another country or region.
Smart contracts will be used to manage required escrows providing an added security measure for those involved and reducing the amount of friction that can often be experienced. These property-related records will then be placed on the blockchain ‘to provide redundancy with incumbent deed recordation systems,’ CPROP states.
The startup is hoping to bring a greater level of transparency and trust to the real estate industry with the help of the blockchain.
The benefits of using CPROP’s platform
Aside from delivering greater transparency and building trust for all parties involved, the transaction management platform is also aiming to provide additional benefits.
For example, CPROP’s user-rated service directory allows otherwise underexposed service providers to gain visibility with potential new clients.
For brokerages and agents, utilizing a system that allows their buyers and sellers the same level of transparency as they have means less unnecessary inquiries, meaning they can spend more time on what they do best — acquire more listings and selling.
Furthermore, a simplified deal process shortens the ‘time to close’ while ensuring that more deals make it to the finish line.
CPROP token structure and sale
The CPROP platform will have its own token structure based on a membership model for local service providers, including real estate agents, lawyers, inspectors, etc, providing access to the platform and a listing in the startup’s service provider directory. Providers will use CPROP tokens to pay for their annual memberships, which will be priced in US Dollars. Tokens used as payment are then stored in a locked wallet and removed from circulation.
The company’s whitepaper states that neither buyers or sellers will be required to buy CPROP tokens to access the platform. Buyers who complete transactions via the CPROP platform will be eligible to receive incentive tokens in exchange for rating service providers. They can either hold their incentive tokens, sell them on an exchange and/or use them to pay for services on CPROP’s platform.
CPROP is currently in a private presale phase before opening its ICO from May 21, 2018, through June 10, 2018. The project has a “hard cap” goal of $20 million, with 4.6 billion tokens up for sale and a launch price of $0.01 per token.
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