This proptech company is changing real estate investment with blockchain
By Pippa Woodhead
Fundamentally, the older generation are “victims of their own success,” explains Tan Kok Keong, CEO and Co-Founder of Singapore-based REMS Advisors and FundPlaces. “They have enjoyed big spikes in asset prices over the last 10 years, so they are stuck in the old way of thinking: that investing in property is all about ownership.”
This is all soon to change, predicts Tan, citing the internet-centric way millennials respond to the world, as well as the rise in disruptive companies such as Airbnb and Uber, which have changed how people consume goods and services.
“We’re trying to bring this same difference to the real estate investing sphere. Traditionally when people venture into property investments, they will most likely buy a residential apartment somewhere. But millennials generally don’t have as much to invest as their parents, so breaking down investments into smaller amounts makes sense for them.”
Unlike their parents, the younger generation are able and willing to use technology to transact, and more likely to look at an investment based on returns, rather than ownership.
FundPlaces’ mission is to help people look beyond buying a house, and making it fast and simple to invest in joint ventures, potentially with high rates of return.
The key to doing this all successfully? Blockchain.
Blockchain has entered public consciousness for a while now, with some using it to document contracts while others are using it to facilitate transactions. FundPlaces is among the first to use it for real estate investments.
Essentially an online document depository, Blockchain offers complete transparency and the ability to make transactions within seconds. This means that real estate investments – assets which are traditionally slow to dispose – can become liquid.
Blockchain uses bitcoin and ethereum, two of the most reputable cryptocurrencies in the world, but FundPlaces has created its own cryptocurrency, Tiles, which will enable clients to make immediate property investments.
In the coming years, Blockchain will not only be of benefit to the savvy investor, but also offer a faster and more convenient method of raising capital for real estate developers.
This article originally appeared on Property Report.
