Did you know that there are a whopping 56 thousand registered real estate agents in Portugal? That works out to roughly 580 per 100,000 residents. Perhaps the astronomical number of agents is due to the fact that Portugal allows agents to collect a 5% fee while the European average stands at 1.8%. To say there is an over-saturation of agents would be an understatement, and as you can imagine with such huge numbers, not all agents are created equal and not all are in the game for the right reasons. 

John McCoy, CEO of IPBN member company ProprHome has been working quietly on a stunning industry-changing project for two years but the company’s foundations have really been in the works for much longer. In the last financial crisis, John found himself unemployed and looking for a new challenge. That’s when he headed to Dubai and then proceeded on to Hong Kong six years later, but he wasn’t just loafing about, he was working in the real estate sector and all the while developing his own theoretical approach to the age-old occupation. What he had realized was that the keys to real estate success were built on the three pillars, as he calls them. 

John told the IPBN, “After a seven-year period I had trained over 700 agents in my approach: Know your property inside and out, have a good knowledge of the area, and have empathy for your customer. There's a lot depending on the decision to buy, so having an agent that has availed themselves of the history and potential of the unit, and the tax, education, and financial implications of different neighborhoods is truly a must. That’s why I have a 25-matrix training program that I built to deliver better agents.”

But John didn’t stop by revolutionizing the way agents work, he dove deeper and decided to revolutionize the way the industry itself operates, soon after falling in love with blockchain. Thanks to a grant that John secured in 2022, he was able to bring real-life value to real estate technology and has now officially created Portugal’s first real estate marketplace powered by blockchain, currently in the final stages of testing before its impending launch. 

If you have no idea what that actually means, you’re not alone. John explained, “Blockchain sounds complicated, but all it really is is a time- and date-stamped sequential transaction database. It’s just that.” But how does that apply to real estate you ask? Essentially, John has tokenized agents’ reputations, digitized them, and allowed the agents to input top-shelf data in exchange for tokens they can then use for advertising if they so choose. You can see each agent’s profile on the company platform with all of their input, token rewards, feedback, relevant articles, and more.  “This digitization helps to keep agents engaged and accountable…and you can know who to trust and why.” according to John. “We prove their professionalism through data to score and promote them accordingly.”

But the ProprHome platform doesn’t stop there. Each listed property is registered as a nonfungible token (NFT) — a digital asset that establishes authenticity and ownership verifiable on a blockchain network—in this case, called Digital Owner Certificates (DOCs). Once you purchase your home, you will receive this DOC which can be scanned by services like Vodafone to instantly onboard cable and internet and Tranquilidade Insurance to insure your life and home without needing to register, sign in, or otherwise prove you are who you say you are. 

“Lastly,” John tells the IPBN, “every time you make an offer on a property, there’s a transparent way to do so. We stamp it out on the chain and if you're unsuccessful, you will receive an email of the last three successful offers so you can make a new offer with all the information taken into account.”

Currently, three thousand agents have signed up to use the platform and are currently employing these new standards. Thanks to the Metaverse with Odessy, we have a digital immersive copy of the city of Lisbon to allow us to offer services to urban planners, architects, etceteras to virtually see their project with avatar-access to photo-realistic elements, which can also allow potential buyers to remotely tour spaces and view interiors…We want to educate the customer by offering these services along with articles on nearby schools and businesses, Pinterest boards, instant google calendar bookings, direct access to verified top-quality agents, and more.”

Seeing is believing, after all, and it seems blockchain will be laying the groundwork going forward.

For more information or questions on investment potential, contact John at info@proprhome.com and be ready to be truly amazed.