Blockchain is a fully secure, tamper-proof record-keeping system. Every record is stored in a “block” that’s part of a longer chain, and the content of each block has to “agree” with the blocks that come before and after it. If it doesn’t, the whole chain is invalid. There’s no way to hack a block without breaking the chain, so accuracy is guaranteed.
“Blockchain could effectively eradicate wire fraud,” says John DiMichele, CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB). Blockchain could also support critical document repositories, storing deeds, leases and other contracts. Its fast, continuous data processing means updates are posted nearly instantly, eliminating the need for manual exchanges of paperwork.
“Think about something like ‘smart contracts,’” says David Conroy, Director of Emerging Technology at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). “You can basically automate parts of the transaction with complete reliability—for instance, automatically releasing or transferring funds when the right conditions are met—instead of needing a person to manually take the next action.”
“Current processes burden landlords and applicants with obtaining extraneous information when all landlords really want to know is if applicants can pay the rent,” explains Conroy. “Blockchain could provide a reliable yes or no without all those details landlords don’t need.”
Despite the regulatory challenge, organizations such as the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and TRREB are actively developing blockchain solutions for real estate. TRREB’s blockchain work began in 2017. The organization researched what other industries were doing and determined it would be better to adapt blockchain to suit the real estate industry than adapt real estate to blockchain — in other words, to create a platform tailor-made for the sector. Once fully developed and operational, TRREB’s blockchain environment will support applications that facilitate the real estate process from contract to conveyance.
CREA is working on a pilot with the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) and the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® on a blockchain solution to better track members’ professional credentials—information that’s currently siloed in different organizations’ databases. The pilot is focused on building a distributed blockchain ledger of member activity across all three levels of organized real estate: municipal, provincial and federal. “Being able to see it all accurately and at a glance will help CREA and other organizations ensure professionals have all the right qualifications,” says Kriteen Lahiry, Director of Product Development and Information Technology at CREA.
Josh Nekrep in Winnipeg, Manitoba, says blockchain’s iron-clad recordkeeping is a natural fit for real estate, especially title management. “Blockchain eliminates any confusion about who owns a property,” he says. “It’s an immutable public ledger that provides mathematical certainty of ownership.” (The property PIN similar to the vehicle VIN.) Today, real estate can generally only be bought and sold in complete units, which restricts the number of potential investors who can bring capital to a project. It also puts real estate investment out of reach for most individuals. “With blockchain, you can tokenize a property and sell micro-portions — like crowdfunding,” says Josh Nekrep. “This would let owners raise capital without having to sell or re-mortgage the whole property and allow a lot more people to make smaller investments. It will democratize the whole industry. A kid with a paper route can become a global real estate investor.”
For CREA, TRREB, NAR and others, collaboration across jurisdictions and industries is key to realizing the potential of blockchain.
Here is the link to the entire article https://www.creacafe.ca/what-can-blockchain-do-for-real-estate/
“Blockchain could effectively eradicate wire fraud,” says John DiMichele, CEO of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB). Blockchain could also support critical document repositories, storing deeds, leases and other contracts. Its fast, continuous data processing means updates are posted nearly instantly, eliminating the need for manual exchanges of paperwork.
“Think about something like ‘smart contracts,’” says David Conroy, Director of Emerging Technology at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). “You can basically automate parts of the transaction with complete reliability—for instance, automatically releasing or transferring funds when the right conditions are met—instead of needing a person to manually take the next action.”
“Current processes burden landlords and applicants with obtaining extraneous information when all landlords really want to know is if applicants can pay the rent,” explains Conroy. “Blockchain could provide a reliable yes or no without all those details landlords don’t need.”
Despite the regulatory challenge, organizations such as the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and TRREB are actively developing blockchain solutions for real estate. TRREB’s blockchain work began in 2017. The organization researched what other industries were doing and determined it would be better to adapt blockchain to suit the real estate industry than adapt real estate to blockchain — in other words, to create a platform tailor-made for the sector. Once fully developed and operational, TRREB’s blockchain environment will support applications that facilitate the real estate process from contract to conveyance.
CREA is working on a pilot with the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) and the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of REALTORS® on a blockchain solution to better track members’ professional credentials—information that’s currently siloed in different organizations’ databases. The pilot is focused on building a distributed blockchain ledger of member activity across all three levels of organized real estate: municipal, provincial and federal. “Being able to see it all accurately and at a glance will help CREA and other organizations ensure professionals have all the right qualifications,” says Kriteen Lahiry, Director of Product Development and Information Technology at CREA.
Josh Nekrep in Winnipeg, Manitoba, says blockchain’s iron-clad recordkeeping is a natural fit for real estate, especially title management. “Blockchain eliminates any confusion about who owns a property,” he says. “It’s an immutable public ledger that provides mathematical certainty of ownership.” (The property PIN similar to the vehicle VIN.) Today, real estate can generally only be bought and sold in complete units, which restricts the number of potential investors who can bring capital to a project. It also puts real estate investment out of reach for most individuals. “With blockchain, you can tokenize a property and sell micro-portions — like crowdfunding,” says Josh Nekrep. “This would let owners raise capital without having to sell or re-mortgage the whole property and allow a lot more people to make smaller investments. It will democratize the whole industry. A kid with a paper route can become a global real estate investor.”
For CREA, TRREB, NAR and others, collaboration across jurisdictions and industries is key to realizing the potential of blockchain.
Here is the link to the entire article https://www.creacafe.ca/what-can-blockchain-do-for-real-estate/
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