Start-up will allow people to buy and sell property through the blockchain

AN entrepreneur is bringing an innovative new way of buying and selling property to the UK – using the blockchain.

22-year-old Todd Walker, from Portsmouth, has launched a company that will drastically speed up property transactions.

The start-up, Villator, will work by using on online marketplace to list a digital asset, or NFT (non-fungible token), which is attached to a limited company, which has been set up for the sole purpose of the property transaction.

The property, which can be commercial or residential, would be owned by the limited company.

The buyer would buy the digital asset using a cryptocurrency to become the new owner of the limited company.

The previous owner of the limited company would then transfer the ownership of the firm to the buyer and hand over all of the assets – including the property.

Currently the way it is set up means mortgage or finance options are not available, which means it is ideal for property developers and cash buyers who want to slash the time it takes to complete a transaction using traditional means.

Because of the way the blockchain works, every stage of a transaction – including offers made – will be documented, which Todd hopes will eliminate buyers being ripped off.

He said: ‘When you go down the traditional route with an estate agency, there is a lot of back-and-forth with phone calls being made every time an offer is made, declined, accepted etc. Often buyers are put under pressure to make a higher offer, with estate agents telling them about counter offers that sometimes don’t even exist. Not only this, but the estate agencies will take a cut of the sale, which will bring the value of the transaction as a whole up.

‘The way this new process works will mean that the buyer has full transparency on each offer, everything is documented and wholesaling real estate will be eliminated.’

While this process has already been brought to US markets, Villator will be the first company to bring it to the UK.

Todd, whose career has always been in and around property, started the company to not only improve the way property transactions are done, but to bring something more physical to a digital only world.

He was just 21 when he bought his first house and plans to use this approach in future to invest in more property.

He said: ‘NFTs and digital assets get a bad rap, because ultimately people are paying lots of money for something they can’t hold in their hand, and a lot of people struggle to get their heads around that.

‘So why not introduce something to the market that fuses the virtual and physical worlds and allow people to use something that otherwise serves no real purpose to purchase something tangible that they can live in, build upon, rent out, or do whatever else they wish with?’

He also hopes that the business will allow him to develop homes for his family to live in them to put them in a better financial position.

He said: ‘My mum doesn’t have a pension, so I’d love to be able to give her a home to live in and to provide for her into her retirement.

Villator is in the pre-launch stages and is currently seeking to raise investment of £500,000, which will be spent towards developing a blockchain-based property marketplace along with smart contracts linking to a straightforward user interface that will streamline the process.

For more information, go to https://villator.net/