A historical hotbed for high-tech innovation, Texas leads the country in everything from space travel to telecommunications. In 2017, the Lone Star State found itself fronting a futurist movement in using Bitcoin to buy homes. The first purchase, brokered by Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty in Austin, set the stage statewide for revolution in real estate exchanges.
How Is Bitcoin Used to Buy Homes?
Bitcoin, like all cryptocurrencies, is a largely unregulated form of deflationary currency. This means, there is a limited supply which increases or decreases in value as investors buy and sell. For home purchases, Bitcoin works much the same way as cash – with one caveat. Unlike traditional USD, its value may dramatically increase or decrease during closing.
While this spells uncertainty, more and more buyers gravitate to these exchanges based on elements of confidentially inherent to crypto. Since Bitcoin is so unregulated, it’s a great way to keep Uncle Sam out of transactions. And as Texas becomes more and more tech-savvy, brokerages are prepping for a whole new payment source.
Anticipating The Inevitable
Kathleen Hays is a Senior Loan Officer at CrossCountry Mortgage in Dallas. She recently closed a purchase with Bitcoin. So, she’s preparing herself and staff for an influx of these transactions.
“With the millennials and younger generations, I think we’ll see this more and more,” Hays says. “Just like with online banking, it started with the younger generation and now we’re all on board.”
In fact, buying a home with crypto was a lot easier than she ever expected.
“It’s not as complex as you’d think,” Hays says. “The main thing is having a reputable crypto wallet with a transaction history. We like to see a solid year of statements from the crypto wallet.”
A crypto wallet is essentially what it sounds like. Basically, it’s an account where your cryptocurrency is stored. Users download these from apps like Coinbase or Crypto.com or Metamask. As crypto gains popularity, these names will continue gaining notoriety—especially among those looking to buy crypto and store it securely. Eventually, they may be household names for household purchases.
Texas Takes the Lead
In a state with some of the hottest housing markets and so much innovation, crypto inevitably enters the conversation. We’re already seeing the trend pick up and the best thing to do is prepare. In Kathleen’s words, “It just takes a little research and savvy to get ahead of it.”
