Thurs Post #2: Lower Mainland Real estate developer starts accepting Bitcoin

Abbotsford developer Quantum Properties says they are accepting Bitcoin for a deposit on any of their residential developments.

The company is currently marketing more than 400 condos in Abbotsford and Port Coquitlam.

President and CEO of Quantum Properties Diane Delves says she has been following the digital currency for a while and thinks it is the way of the future.

“I was fascinated by the concept. We have been looking at it for a while. Finally as of today, we made it official that we are going to accept Bitcoin.”

Delves says they have yet to see what the buying public thinks of it.

“We wanted to offer it as an option. It was sort of like –let’s throw it out there and see."

Delves says as far as she is aware, no other developer is accepting Bitcoin.

The average value of a condo that Quantum Properties is marketing is $250,000, and the deposit is usually within a 10 per cent range.

Delves says she is aware of just how volatile Bitcoin can be, but it is not a big concern for them.

“We might win some, we might lose some. We will convert it to currency and if we suffer a loss, we will count it as a marketing cost.”

Source: Global BC

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Thurs Post #2: Bitcoins and Real Estate

Bitcoins.

Have you been following the mania that is the virtual currency known as 'Bitcoins'?

Back on October 29th, 2013 you may have caught this CBC article titled World's first bitcoin ATM opens in Vancouver: Bitcoiniacs's kiosk dispenses digital currency from Waves Coffee House.

The kiosk, located inside Waves Coffee House at Howe and Smithe Street in downtown Vancouver, attracted its first customers, along with dozens of people who wanted to see how it worked, shortly after it went live at 9 a.m that day.

The automated teller machine is operated by Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs and Nevada-based Robocoin. Canadian cash can be fed in or taken out from the machine and exchanged for bitcoins on Canada’s VirtEx exchange. The bitcoins will then be transferred to and from the customer’s online bitcoin wallet. The user will also have the option to receive a paper voucher representing the transaction.

The CBC article describes Bitcoin this way:

Bitcoin, which came into existence in 2009, isn’t controlled by any authority such as a central bank. In the recent past, the currency has gained notoriety for its use to buy illicit goods such as drugs on websites such as Silk Road, which was recently shut down by U.S. authorities. However, it is increasingly being accepted by legitimate businesses around the world.

The eye-catching segment of this article is here:

As of Tuesday morning, Bitcoiniacs reported that it was buying bitcoins for $183.21 each and selling them for $207.37 to $211.32. The virtual currency's value has swung wildly in the past year, starting at $13 in January and hitting a high of $266 in April.

'Swung wildly' an understatement.  At the time this post was written, Bitcoin was sitting at $984.00 CDN:

It hit a high, at one point today, of $1160.00 and a low of $900.00. For those who crave trading on volatility, this is heaven.

Which is interesting given that an Alberta woman is willing to trade $1-million property for Bitcoins.

Will those in real estate start turning their gaze to Bitcoins and the opportunities in that field?

A $1 million flipped in today's volatility would have netted you a profit of $288,888.88 (how's that for HAM oriented lucky numbers?).

If you had parked your $1 million in bitcoin on Oct 29th and pulled it out at the high today, you would have netted a profit of $4,489,305.31.

You have to wonder how long before the real estate speckers are drawn towards this milieu.

Anyone know of any who already have?

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