New Jersey’s two most expensive homes on the public market are now accepting offers in cryptocurrency.
As of Sunday, broker Jack Vizzard said potential buyers are able to make crypto offers on two of his oceanfront properties: A $26.5 million new-construction home on the 5400 block of Dune Drive in Avalon and a nearly $25 million double-lot estate in the south end of Stone Harbor.
Vizzard, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, said he believes these are the first homes in the Philadelphia region or Southern New Jersey to advertise the acceptance of crypto.
After researching the digital currency, Vizzard said he’s convinced it will someday become commonplace in real estate transactions, particularly for wealthy buyers who have made a fortune in crypto and want to invest in more stable markets.
“We’re just trying to open up the buyer pool to people who want to go into a safer asset,” Vizzard said.
“It can work with a mortgage, like your down money could be 20% crypto,” he said. But, he added, it works best if the whole purchase is made with cryptocurrency.
An all-crypto purchase has many benefits, Vizzard said, including that “the transaction can happen in minutes to hours,” as opposed to weeks, and involves no currency exchange for international buyers.
It gives sellers options, too, Vizzard said: “They could either keep it as crypto and hold it, watch it go up or down. Or on the day of settlement, exchange it for cash instantaneously.”
Vizzard said he was inspired to open these listings up to crypto offerings after reading earlier this month that San Francisco-based Opendoor Technologies would be accepting crypto offers on home purchases in dozens of markets nationwide. Opendoor operates much like a digital flipper, making instant cash offers, remodeling, and then relisting homes.
Vizzard was also intrigued by the recent comments of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who in a 60 Minutes interview on Oct. 13 said crypto is “not a bad asset” and should play a role in a diversified portfolio, “in the same way there is a role for gold.”
In recent years, a growing number of home buyers, particularly young and first-time buyers, say they have sold cryptocurrency to make their down payments on a home, according to Redfin surveys. And this year, President Donald Trump has taken steps to make digital currency more mainstream, including directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider a homebuyer’s crypto assets when determining whether to approve them for a mortgage.
Around the same time as Trump’s directive, the luxury Christie’s International Real Estate launched what it called “the industry’s first official cryptocurrency division, featuring an unprecedented $1+ billion portfolio of ultraluxury properties accepting digital currency payments” in Southern California.
Across the country, the two Jersey Shore properties now accepting crypto offers are expansive homes with modern designs in some of the area’s wealthiest ZIP codes. Both have been on the market since the summer.
The 7,240-square-foot Avalon home has six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and three partial baths. It is perched 30 feet above all surrounding properties, providing 360-degree views of the ocean and the bay from the master bedroom, and has a resort-style pool and hot tub in a private backyard. Inside, there is a full gym, sauna, and a four-stop elevator.
The Stone Harbor listing encompasses a double lot with two recently updated homes that have 10 bedrooms, five full bathrooms, and two half baths between them.
“The best use is probably to build a compound” on the site, Vizzard said. The listing suggests buyers could construct “a show-stopping 6,600+ sq. ft. custom home with sweeping ocean views.”
Since publicizing that the homes were accepting crypto offers, Vizzard said he’s received several emails from interested parties, which he has to vet for authenticity.