Topic: Legal Formalities to Buy Real Estate in Bitcoins (Read 903 times)

Yes, I agree that any contract is binding on both the parties involved in the contract but in the case of bitcoin transaction, how a buyer can prove that he has made a payment on the address which belongs to the seller? Can we produce escrow's confirmation in such case if we are going with the escorw? Will court accept it as a piece of evidence?

In my country, when it comes to real estate, the document of transafering is the same irrespective of the currency of transactions and the terms and conditions accepted by both parties to the agreement. Be it cash, cheque, deposits, instalments, credit, bitcoin or even free transfer won't matter so far the parties have agreed to it. Then such agreement is binding on them.

I think even if the legality of bitcoin in the eyes of law has not been acknowledged in country, but if both parties have an agreement in making payment transactions using bitcoin would be a legal transaction.

I assume they did a deal through Bitpay or similar so the only legal questions will be the buyer's own capital gains. It'll be all fiat on the seller side. I very much doubt they accepted Bitcoin though he paid with it.

I see, thanks. I think any party can sue the another party if there is a breach of contract. If I am not wrong, The contract act has that provision. I am sure we will have many companies dealing in real estate as well as an escrow for the deals using cryptocurrencies in the future. However, it will remain in grey area until the government's recognization to the cryptocurrencies.

You can have an agreement to exchange apples and oranges. If it is a valid contract, it is still enforceable.
Similarly, 'exchanging' real estate for bitcoins can also form part of a contract. It has nothing to do with whether bitcoin is recognized by your country as a currency.

Yes, I agree with that but my query is specifically regarding the binding of an agreement. Since bitcoin is not a currency in the eyes of law, How a party can claim or file a dispute if another party is not following the agreement? How law will protect the interest of the parties dealing in something that is not recognized by the law?

Obviously, you need to have an agreement in place. You need to follow all the due diligence that you would follow if the payment was not being made in bitcoins.
Plus buying it in bitcoins would give you no specific advantage. You would need to pay capital gains tax on the appreciated value of your bitcoins, in most countries.

When it comes to real estate there is nothing special about the currency so far it has been accepted by both the seller and the buyer and the documents to effect the transfer of property to the rightful owner has been done and assented to accordingly. Where I stay I have seen real estate agreements signed using a currency different from the legal tender here and its binding on both parties so like wise bitcoin can be used if there is a mutual understanding to that effect.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am not sure but this is something that we might see frequently after 5 or 10 years. I have met many people online who don't think appropriate to pay the taxes so the real estate deals will take place in BTC with large number of users in near future, I am worried about legal and economic consequences of such practices. No doubt it will skyrocket the price of bitcoin if real estate mafias get in this business with this intention.

Assurance of payment is normally handled by an escrow company. Now finding an escrow company that will be a go between with BTC is another story.

Yes, I have seen houses for sale for BTC. Most are not in the United States. You had better make sure that the person who says they are the owner is indeed the owner because once you transmit BTC, if that person is a fraud then he is gone along wit your BTC.

I don't see the advantage of buying real property in BTC. There are too many things that can go wrong in a property sale. Even if the seller is legit, he may disappear if he is not tied to the community as in job, bank account etc. There would be no recourse if for example it were not disclosed that there was asbestos, that the house was used as a meth lab, that there were murders in the house or that the foundation was sinking and so on and so forth.  Many using BTC for as many transactions as they can want to be off the grid and to beat the system. I'm just saying there is an increased risk of not having recourse.

So many want to be cute and clever and avoid paying taxes and fees.  They think they can avoid those things by using BTC. I'm sure there will be those responding and bragging about how they don't pay taxes and fees and buy everything in BTC. While this may be useful in some transactions the whole attitude of trying to avoid responsibility of being a citizen by being clever rubs me the wrong way.

Of course I may also get responses about how taxes and fees are a rip off and that they don't go to proper use. It is true, many taxes are used for things that are wasteful in my opinion. But that is often in the eye of the beholder. For example, I think that the U.S. spends far too much on military and tax breaks for large corporations. That more money should be put into infrastructure in our country. However I respect others right to disagree and to make a reasonable counter argument. But nothing excuses our responsibility to our community and country to pay what the law says to pay.

Back to real property. Can someone please tell me the advantages of using BTC? I personally and as an attorney do not get it. In fact I think it might be foolish.

Respectfully:

George D. Greenberg, Esq.

www.attorneybitcoin.com

Hello,

Yesterday I came across the post claiming that the person bought a house using bitcoins. I would like to learn more about legal formalities to be followed while dealing using bitcoins especially for real estate.


Since bitcoin is not recognised by the law, what if seller claims that he has not received any payment? How to make sure that the deal is legally binding to both the involved parties?

Best,
Dudeperfect