A US realtor is trying to sell an actual house as an NFT now
NFT's are normally used to sell digital assets, but this realtor's now trying to use the technology to sell real objects ... and it's an interesting concept.
Key takeaways
- The artwork and house are up for auction on OpenSea, with a minimum bid of 48 ETH, or almost $117,000.
- The house previously sold at $746,000, according to real-estate platform Zillow.
- Currently there are no laws to explain how this might work, or what the taxes will be.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2021) 'A US realtor is trying to sell an actual house as an NFT now', 311 Institute, 25 April. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/a-us-realtor-is-trying-to-sell-an-actual-house-as-an-nft-now/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
We’re used to weird digital stuff being sold as NFT’s, or Non-Fungible Tokens, such as Jack Dorsey’s first tweet which sold for $2.6million or the original Nyan cat gif which sold for $560,000. Now though a real estate broker named Shane Dulgeroff has decided to take advantage of the NFT hype. He’s selling a house at 221 Dryden Street, in Thousand Oaks, California along with an NFT of a psychedelic video of the house.
The artwork and house are up for auction on OpenSea, with a minimum bid of 48 ETH, or almost $117,000. No one has bid yet, and the auction closes in seven days. The house previously sold at $746,000, according to real-estate platform Zillow.
Trippy, and this could be yours along with the real house ...
“It’s less about the significance of the art as it is the significance of us using a platform like [OpenSea] to sell a home,” Dulgeroff told Fast Company. “The significance that the art will carry, it’s going to be stored in your digital wallet forever as living proof that you purchased the first home ever that was done through any kind of a crypto platform directly. So that’s where the real value is.”
NFTs are usually used to support digital goods, for instance: art, music, and trading cards. Currently there are no laws to explain how this might work, or what the taxes will be.
“It really is an interesting process navigating the legal side of it, the tax side of it, the transfer side of it to make sure it’s all done correctly,” Dulgeroff told Fast Company. Perhaps that explains the lack of bids, no one wants to get in trouble with tax collectors.
The art that comes with the house was designed by Kii Arens and his isn’t his NFT art, his pop-art confections inspired by Yusaku Maezawa’s attempted space mission are also up for sale. Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, announced in 2018 that he planned to go to the Moon on board Elon Musks’ SpaceX moon mission “with artists.”
“I want to be on that spaceship as it travels farther than any human has from Earth,” Arens wrote to explain the inspiration for the NFT set.
What this means for your organisation
Novelty is the stated value.
Dulgeroff says the point is less the art than using such a platform to sell a home, with the token serving as proof of being first. The claim rests on being first, not on the asset. Buyers should separate novelty from value when pricing anything like this.
The law has not caught up.
There are no rules explaining how this would work or what the taxes would be, and he describes navigating the legal, tax and transfer questions as an interesting process. The absence of bids suggests buyers noticed. Legal teams should expect uncertainty, not silence, to deter buyers.
Tokens suit digital goods.
These tokens are usually used for art, music and trading cards, where the token is the asset. With a house, the physical transfer still has to happen in the normal way. Finance leaders should ask what the token actually represents.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- Are we pricing novelty or value?
- Does legal uncertainty deter our buyers more than we think?
- What does the token in our deal actually represent?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
NFT's are normally used to sell digital assets, but this realtor's now trying to use the technology to sell real objects ... and it's an interesting concept.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
Read full bio
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Index edition.cnn.com
- original Nyan cat gif news.artnet.com
- real estate broker www2.dre.ca.gov
- 221 Dryden Street, in Thousand Oaks, California zillow.com
- artwork and house dulgeroffnft.com
- on OpenSea opensea.io
- Dulgeroff told Fast Company. fastcompany.com
- Science environment 45550755 bbc.co.uk
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 25 April 2021. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2021). A US realtor is trying to sell an actual house as an NFT now. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/a-us-realtor-is-trying-to-sell-an-actual-house-as-an-nft-now/
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