A Miami penthouse listed for 33 bitcoin on Friday already has interest from a potential buyer in Spain.
Real estate agent Justino Eduardo Ferret with United Realty Group listed his client’s one-bedroom condo in the Miami neighborhood of Edgewater, north of Downtown, in exchange for digital currency that would amount to just over $540,000, and he’s only accepting bitcoin.
The move has caused quite a stir for Ferret, who says he has another two or three bitcoin-only listings in the works.
The seller of the penthouse is fellow Uruguayan Ciro Fodere, an American citizen and classical pianist who currently lives in the same building as the penthouse, which he purchased in January 2016.
Fodere, who researched bitcoin extensively before making this rather daring move, says he has a good head for numbers and believes the cryptocurrency has a future and is not just a fad. Bitcoin transactions, verified digitally by an unchanging ledger called a blockchain, make it easier for foreign investors to make an offer and facilitate a deal. But the unregulated currency is very volatile — yesterday it was worth around $17,400; today, $16,400.
“I know it’s a risky idea, but I don’t think as risky as people think,” said Fodere, who has been surprised by the “hype” surrounding the sale of the property. He is even on the front page of his newspaper at home in Uruguay, thanks to the media attention in the U.S., and is still trying to convince his older brother there who’s a lawyer that this is all a good idea.
But the publicity seems to be working some magic, you could argue. After talking to Inman, Fodere was meeting with Ferret to discuss an offer that has come in for the penthouse from a buyer in Spain.
The seller said he was going to do his due diligence, bringing in lawyers and accountants to take him through the process.
“Since I am a ‘guinea pig,’ I will make sure I complying with everything,” said the Miami-based homeowner.
Fodere, who came to live in the U.S. 23 years ago, said he is trusting in Ferret to help him with the process. The agent has been advising him on property transactions since around 2008 when he first bought a home and fixed it up.
Fodere believes the bitcoin listings Ferret is bringing on in the next week or two have come in as a direct result of the media exposure from Fodere’s innovative penthouse sale.
When he receives the bitcoin payment, Fodere said he will hold it for a time, although he said he will need to exchange a small amount to pay the closing fees.
This early offer on the condo is certainly a swift response, probably more immediate than the interest in your typical Edgewater condo usually commands, even if it is, as Fodere says, “very much an up-and-coming” area.
He thinks any interesting offers are likely to come in the next couple of days as the public interest reaches its height.
