Not long ago we have spoken about a London mansion that was purchased with Bitcoin – a property which was worth £17 million.
What seemed to be a speculation of an up and coming trend in the market, it is now becoming a reality.
The Manhattan’s real estate market is looking into exploring the process of buying a house with Bitcoin in New York and embracing the famous currency even further.
One of the most recent property developers – Ben Shaoul – from Magnum Real Estate Group is seriously looking into exploring Bitcoin and real estate further.
The property mogul would like to offer their customers an opportunity to purchase some of the prestigious Manhattan’s East Village condos, which prices vary from $700,000 to $1,5 mln.
Shaoul recently told The Express:
“We were approached by a buyer who has been collecting bitcoin for many years and was interested in using it to buy property. He said he really wanted to buy with bitcoin, so I spoke to my lawyers and the powers that be, and they said yes.”
Since then, his agency was approached by more customers enquiring about investing in property with Bitcoin.
Is Buying A House With Bitcoin Easy?
If buying a house could ever be put in the ‘easy’ category, then most of would likely be home owners.
However, buying a house with Bitcoin could be relatively more convenient, comparing to the traditional process.
Those who are lucky enough and don’t have to struggle with getting a mortgage, probably have different experiences.
But for casual Joe’s buying a house usually means trying to get a mortgage from a bank and dealing with a costly and lengthy process.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, is most of the time an asset already acquired, and those who invested in the famous cryptocurrency early enough, are nowadays in possession of a hefty investment.
Hence, the entire process might seem more manageable.
But in reality, it does not mean that anyone involved in the process would be able to avoid taxes, banks and lawyers.
If anything they would probably be even more involved.
The real estate market might not seem Bitcoin-friendly, but does not always mean the buyer would not be able to pay with Bitcoin.
Recently, a new home owner from Texas purchased a house with Bitcoin, and even though a seller did not accept the cryptocurrency, thanks to BitPay, he received the payment in Dollars. Solving the same an issue of cryptocurrency payment.
There is a drawback, though, to buying anything with Bitcoin, not to mention a multi-million mansion. It’s Bitcoin’s volatility.
With digital currencies’ prices rising, many homeowners are under the impression that it’s a trend that will stay and it presents an opportunity for making even a more significant profit.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, however, nothing is stable, and Bitcoin itself went through a rollercoaster. From a mere value of $3,000 in July 2017, it has nearly tripled, and Bitcoin is predicted to reach $10,000 by the end of this year.
So while the market is proving to be quite attractive for potential investors, there is a high risk of not only trading with large sums of money but also with a volatile currency.
The prices change on a daily basis – Bitcoin has recently experienced a fluctuations of $2,000 within two days after the significant upgrade SegWit2x was cancelled.
Does It Mean You Should Give Up on Buying a House with Bitcoin?
Despite the dynamic market of digital currencies, Shaoul doesn’t see the risks with too much concern. Instead, he compared the volatile cryptocurrency market to the stock market:
“Would you stop investing in stock markets? No, you wouldn’t. Each person is going to have a risk assessed judgement on whether or not they want to invest in bitcoin.”
According to him, accepting Bitcoin payments is a progressive sign of the company, and it gives it more edge in the competitive market.
Real estate, especially in New York, is one of the most aggressive sectors; hence many are ready to do anything it takes to stand out.
So even though to buy a house with Bitcoin in New York could seem more relaxed, comparing to the traditional process, Ben Shaoul might be on a right marketing track.
One paved with affluent Bitcoin investors.
