START-UP real estate company C Estates Inc. is set to launch an online platform which would allow investors to purchase part of or an entire property through a platform using tokens.

Elixes F. Becislao, chief operating officer of C Estates, said the platform will allow anyone to buy and sell properties in an instant just like in a stock market. The platform is targeted to be launched by November.

“Everyone now can participate in real estate, regardless if you are a buyer or a seller, you’re a developer because this is an open platform… There will be a technology now, a marketplace wherein these parties will meet and these parties will satisfy each and everyone’s need,” he said during the media briefing in Makati City on July 15.

Founded in 2018, C Estates, Inc. developed the Tokenized Real Estate Platform, which would make real estate transactions easy and accessible for anyone.

C Estates CEO Teru Sumida conceptualized the platform, which was previously owned by Capitarise Corp., a property management and consulting company.

Tokenization is the process of protecting sensitive data by replacing it with an algorithm called token. The platform will serve as a place where people can “trade” fractions of a property, providing liquidity to property owners. This platform also incorporates blockchain technology.

“With blockchain technology, we can actually help the government itself to produce a more transparent, more secure and more efficient way of doing recordings of property documentation… it can prevent human errors, it can also make the documentation be tamper-proof,” Mr. Becislao said.

This will also lessen friction costs incurred during the traditional way of purchasing properties to 2%. A user could just sign up, be verified, and have a minimum of $100 in his account. Payments can made using credit cards, cryptocurrency and the like.

“There will be bidding… until you get the match… so regardless if physically your property is priced at say P10 million, but someone in the platform is offering you P8 million, and then somehow you agreed… That’s the true market value… (These bids) it’s not speculative because we’re talking about property, so it’s the real value itself,” he explained.

Properties to be sold in the platform are those under the Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT). The company is currently targeting foreigners, specifically Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, who are keen on buying property in the Philippines.

Mr. Becislao also noted that the company has partnered with several developers and brokers, but declined to identify them.

The company is also targeting to cater to Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) which are properties that can only be owned by Filipino nationals, but this may take time as there are no government regulations on this yet. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

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