Source: Inman —
In 2021, two worlds collided when my luxury real estate practice was presented with a trailblazing opportunity to represent Meta Residence One. This was no ordinary home. Yes, it was slated to be built on a real plot of land, but a virtual copy of it would also exist in the metaverse. In this respect, it was the very first property of its kind.
That’s because the metaverse is quickly becoming a platform, or a collection of several platforms, where more and more people are spending their time and their money. These are interactive spaces where you can advertise, socialize, build, and explore. It’s no wonder we’ve started to imagine how to bring real estate to this realm.
The metaverse and real estate markets were made for each other
Upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that real estate and the metaverse are entirely compatible. After all, real estate is a tangible asset in which a person purchases a piece of property and the home that occupies it, or they can build a home on an empty lot. The transaction involves real money or financing, and the purchaser receives a deed indicating ownership.
In the metaverse, the purchase of real estate is represented by an NFT — a non-fungible token which is a type of inimitable digital identifier. The token demarcates distinct coordinates, just like real-world parcels. The combination of several adjacent parcels results in an estate.
This type of virtual land is purchased with cryptocurrency and property owners can develop their land into a wide variety of worlds, events, and experiences. So in effect, the concept of real estate remains consistent regardless of whether it takes place on a city block or on a blockchain.
