27 Nov 2017 Melbourne property could be first bitcoin property transaction in Australia
A family home in Melbourne has gone up for sale with the vendor willing to accept bitcoin as payment for the property.
If the sale does go through, it could be Australia’s first cryptocurrency property transaction.
The two-storey property is located in Melbourne’s outer-west at The Basin and boasts 5-bedrooms and a 6-Star Energy Rating.
Property builder Robert Gadd who constructed and is now selling the house first became involved with bitcoin 6-12 months ago.
He said that cryptocurrency is heading in a more positive rather than negative direction.
“I believe that cryptocurrency is the way of the future,” he said.
“The market has really taken on more acceptance in the last few months.”
He said while the property is designed for a young family, giving the option of payment by cryptocurrency means anyone could choose to buy it as bitcoin buyers are often “unconventional investors.”
“It’s always nice to be at the trailblazing end of doing something that hasn't been pioneered before,” Mr Gadd said.
“It’s just another thing to set the property apart from other properties in the area and a different way of marketing it.”
John Garnett, Director of listing real estating agency Harcouts-Boronia, says this is the first time he has ever listed a property with the option to use bitcoin as part-payment.
He said that while there are no real issues in relation to tax or stamp duty as long as the contract shows the full purchase price, other legalities are still the hardest obstacle to overcome.
Any use of cryptocurrency must be part of the balance of money that comes in at settlement, meaning that bitcoin cannot be used for the full purchase price.
“Being the first transaction of its kind, it’s a little bit hard to know how this will all pan out,” he said.
“If a buyer is interested in paying part payment in bitcoin the rest will be up to the solicitors to deal with in settlement.”
Mr Garnett said that since the property was listed last week he has had several other vendors contact him and express their interest in having bitcoin payment as an option in selling their property.
“This is only a drop in the bucket in terms of this sort of buyer group,” Mr Garett said.
The vendor is asking for $820,00-$895,000 for the property, or 66-72 bitcoin.
Earlier today Industry site CoinDesk reported that bitcoin had today jumped to a record high of $9,671.84.
Both the vendor and the real-estate agency say the option to use cryptocurrency should not deter offers from interested buyers who do not use bitcoin.