Real and virtual worlds converge with Propy’s NFT-powered home buying platform

Bay Area-turned-Miami startup reports over $5B in real estate transactions, despite crypto winter

By Riley Kaminer

The internet has made it easier than ever to buy large assets such as cars, yachts and even an entire city online in a matter of seconds. Still, it takes an average of 50 days to complete the relatively mundane transaction of buying a house.

Silicon Valley-turned-Miami startup Propy is flipping the script in the real estate market with its NFT-powered home buying and selling platform.

“We are focused on automating the home buying process,” founder and CEO Natalia Karayaneva told me Update Miami. She noted that the various fees associated with the traditional home buying process eat away at consumers’ savings.

“That’s why we have developed the best technology to make housing purchases safer and more liquid, using the blockchain and smart contracts,” explained Karayaneva.

The idea is that potential buyers can visit a home (in a meta-averse environment or in the physical world), see an inspection report – and then buy the house with just a few clicks. From there, the ownership register is placed in your secure wallet. Home purchases can be made in crypto or fiat.

When you’re ready to sell it, you can perform the same process in reverse. Or if your property has yet to be NFT minted, Propy can connect you with a crypto-certified agent to help you get your house ready for sale.

According to Karayaneva, Propy’s process of buying a home is more efficient than traditional methods, which involve upwards of 80 professionals from a handful of separate firms. “You can lose the house, you can lose the contract, you can lose the money – it’s a very uncertain process,” she claimed. “And that’s why 10% of the purchase price ends up going to those expenses, to actually make it pretty secure. But instead, we can use smart contracts.”

Map Propy’s traction: users, funding and 10,000 estate agents

Early investors and adopters have found this model compelling. Since it was founded in 2016, Propy has secured nearly $17 million in venture funding. The startup reports having sold over $5 billion worth of properties through its platform, with more than 10,000 homes transferred via blockchain.

In addition, Propy currently has around 10,000 licensed real estate agents in its network. Propy instructs these agents in the basics of web3, enabling them to better understand the industry as well as the startup platform itself.

Karayaneva expects this growth trajectory to continue, if not accelerate. “The Web3 space has changed dramatically over the years,” she said.

“It’s evolved to a degree that I didn’t expect,” she continued. “Cryptocurrency is going through a stage of mass adoption. Before it was only for geeks and engineers. Now everyone in America knows about cryptocurrency.”

For Karayaneva, the boom in NFTs over the past year or so was an unexpected boon for Propy’s business. The rise in this asset class has been beneficial because it normalized the idea of ​​managing digital wallets that contain our assets.

While art may be the main medium for NFTs at the moment, Karayaneva believes this is just the beginning. “We used to transfer information via the internet. Now we transfer values ​​and rights using NFTs.”

Navigating market uncertainty

This is not the first crypto winter for the Propy team. “We survived the first one,” Karayaneva said, giving her no reason to believe Propy wouldn’t survive this market downturn as well.

This time, however, the housing market is also in flux. Karayaneva sees house prices normalizing over the next twelve months, with inflation of interest rates leading to a reduction in house sales. But she does not expect us to experience anything along the lines of 2008/9.

Whatever happens to the broader market, Karayaneva plans to keep Propy on the path to innovation. “We are very stable and well capitalised. Now is the time to build and stand even stronger after the recession.”

Migration to Miami

Karayaneva landed in Miami last year, attracted by the growing ecosystem of tech entrepreneurs. “Silicon Valley became a bubble while Miami became so exciting, with fresh energy, and a great mix of people from California and New York, as well as locals.” The pleasant weather and the favorable tax environment were of course also big draws.

Six of Propy’s 30 full-time employees and 20 contractors are based in South Florida. Karayaneva founded the company together with Denitza Tyufekchieva and Maria Angelova. Karayaneva is a real estate veteran, having worked as a developer for 15 years before moving into the tech space to start Propy. She is also an advisor in the blockchain hedge fund Arrington XRP Capital.

Propy will be hosting their Web3 and Real Estate Summit in Miami on 27-28. October. Last year’s event featured a wide range of local and national names, including Melissa Medina, Mayor Francis Suarez and Nabyl Charania.

Coming soon: NFT avatars, growth and more funding

On September 27, Propy will release a collection of NFT avatars aimed at real estate agents [one is pictured at top]. “Agents in our network wanted a cool avatar, but the popular ones are already very expensive,” Karayaneva said of the original motivation for starting the project.

These NFT avatars will give owners access to a DAO focused on virtual property. It will also give owners access to the startup’s upcoming summit, as well as courses to teach real estate agents about the metaverse.

To further fuel this expansion, the team hopes to raise a Series A within the next six months.

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