Much like single-family homes in Los Angeles, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) tend to sell for well over asking.
Earlier this month, Westlake Village realtor Shane Dulgeroff listed his Thousand Oaks duplex alongside an NFT created by contemporary graphic designer Kii Arens. The 45-second video is a colorful depiction of the house in question with a few extra-terrestrial additions. The first offering of its kind, the auction was launched on OpenSea, an online platform for user-owned, blockchain-backed digital goods.
Dulgeroff hoped the listing would attract multiple bids, inflating the price to near $20 million. The minimum bid was set at 48 Ether, worth about $110,000, but the 27-year-old realtor indicated that he would not be willing to accept an offer of less than $2 million. When the auction closed two weeks later, the listing had not garnered any bids.
It was at that point that Dulgeroff decided to list the property on the MLS in addition to OpenSea. Built in 1973, the 1,696-square-foot home at 221 Dryden Street offers two rental units that generate over $60,000 in annual rental income, according to the description. Each modern apartment features two bedrooms and one bathroom and there’s a fence-divided backyard with an in-ground pool on one side and a grassy lawn and fire pit on the other.
If the duplex is purchased through conventional means, the NFT will be transferred to the buyer “upon the close of escrow at no additional cost.” The asking price was recently slashed by $50,000, bringing it down to $1.15 million if purchased the traditional way through financing or an all-cash deal. A Redfin listing notes that the seller will begin reviewing offers in nine days.
But it seems Dulgeroff hasn’t given up hope on the OpenSea auction because four days ago he created a new listing with a minimum bid of 520 Ether, currently valued at $1.37 million. The unique marketing tactic has attracted plenty of media attention, which in turn, could lure in the right type of home-and-NFT-buyer.
In an interview with CNN, Dulgeroff mentioned that the search for a potential buyer hasn’t been easy. “You have people who really understand the crypto space. And you have people who really understand real estate investing space. But there was a lack of understanding about the other side,” he said.
It remains to be seen which platform will facilitate the sale of the “world’s first NFT Property.” The piece of digital art could make for a charming housewarming gift or be sold later by the new owners for profit. Either way, the transaction comes with a physical home that offers mountain views to boot.
