HomeJab reveals a new way to market real estate – on the blockchain

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A real estate photo and video services company offers a new way for agents to market their clients’ homes – by appealing directly to crypto enthusiasts.

Agents using HomeJab can now request a free, property-backed NFT (non-fungible token) that gives the owner an insider track against buying the home, the company announced in a statement to Inman.

These non-fungible tokens are unique digital markers on the blockchain that can be bought and sold, and even made to represent a separate virtual or physical asset.

But while some real estate agents have taken elaborate steps to complete entire home transactions through NFT sales – for example, by creating an LLC whose ownership is determined by who owns a similar NFT – HomeJab’s product is less ambitious in scope.

Joe Jesuele | HomeJab

Buying HomeJab NFT is about making an instant home delivery, HomeJab founder and CEO Joe Jesuele told Inman in an email. It does not transfer the title on its own.

“We want to add in a new way for crypto enthusiasts to use their portfolio to submit quick quotes,” Jesuele wrote. “I think this is the most scalable way to bring so many real estate professionals and homeowners to the blockchain.”

Jesuele described the new product as “a step towards decentralization,” and an opportunity to market a property to crypto enthusiasts – not an overhaul of the entire home buying process.

This is partly because setting up a unique LLC for each home – and thus making it possible to link ownership to the ownership of a unique NFT – is not practical across the volume of HomeJab’s clientele, Jesuele wrote.

Instead, the HomeJab process works like this: A real estate agent asks HomeJab to create a free NFT. A crypto holder who is interested in making an offer on the real property, buys NFT using assets from his digital wallet. HomeJab then gets 1 percent on NFT sales, which are sent to the title company. Then the title company cooperates with all parties to facilitate the conclusion of an otherwise traditional sale.

Jesuele said that HomeJab’s decision to use the NFTs as more of a marketing tool is an extension of the existing business model – which offers photo and video services to help real estate agents market listings. HomeJab is not a website for selling owners, he said.

“Therefore, our service becomes a way for the traditional real estate industry to engage with the crypto community,” Jesuele told Inman in the email. “Anyone who hires us for a photo shoot can get a free NFT entry. A bridge to the future?”

This is not the company’s first foray into the NFT world, and it will probably not be the last. After taking this step, HomeJab plans to build new features that explore other ways NFTs can serve a function in real estate transactions.

One such idea is to create a way for NFT owners to rent out their properties by exchanging an NFT for a defined period of time at a specific price, Jesuele said. After this period has passed, the ownership of this rental NFT can automatically return to the original owner, he said.

Email Daniel Houston