How to Buy Land in the Metaverse

What is the Metaverse?

The Metaverse is an extremely hot topic in the technology world (and world in general) right now. Major news platforms are running story after story about the metaverse and the current spike in metaverse land investments. This is, at least in part, because of the interest in the metaverse that has been expressed by Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook changed its company name to “Meta” and Zuckerberg is investing billions of dollars into the metaverse.

The metaverse is described by many as a place where reality meets (and becomes intertwined with) virtuality. You may be familiar with video games that simulate human life, perhaps in the fashion of Sims, Minecraft, or other games of the like. The metaverse is understood to be similar in nature, however perhaps more “real” than those have been in the past.

People can work, maintain social lives, and play. While doing so, they will have the opportunity to be more fully immersed in this alternate world when they utilize virtual reality headsets. Rather than logging into Zoom or some other video-chatting platform, individuals may find their future selves logging into the metaverse and navigating to a meeting space to conduct business. Alternately, you could travel the world via the metaverse to see museums in Europe, animals in Africa, even meet Avatar recreations of famous people. As we can in our present, tangible lives, individuals will be able to buy and sell products, art, and a plethora of other things — including land.

Do You Need Cryptocurrency to Buy Land in the Metaverse?

The short answer is yes. You cannot go to a metaverse site, plug in your credit card numbers, and own a parcel of land in the metaverse. To begin, you must have a digital crypto wallet. There are only certain types of crypto wallets which allow you to use a bank account or credit card to buy crypto, so it is important to note whether the type of wallet you select allows you to do so. Typically, hosted wallets will allow you to purchase cryptocurrency this way.

After you’ve obtained some cryptocurrency, you must decide which metaverse platform you would like to purchase real estate in. At the time of this article, the most popular are Decentraland, Somnium Space, and Sandbox. Following your selection of the platform in which you wish to become a landowner, you finally get to explore and select the piece of land that suits your fancy.

Because the money you have in your crypto wallet will have to be connected to and then converted to the crypto-coin of the platform’s choice, it may be helpful for you to utilize a third-party site to shop around, find a good deal on your parcel of land, and see how the crypto-coin of that platform translates to real-world currency. This can help build a clearer understanding of how much of your “real world” money you’re spending on your land in the metaverse.

Beyond these few details, however, buying land is much more simple in the metaverse than here on tangible Earth. You don’t need an appraisal of the land you want to buy (when the metaverse becomes less volatile and better established an appraisal may be in your favor, however) and it is a much faster process. Select your piece, click, and buy it. It is nearly instantaneous, which some may find to be a refreshing contradiction to the land-buying process in “real life.”

Can You Identify Valuable Land in the Metaverse?

Because the concept of the metaverse is still fairly uncharted, it is safe to say the same about the real estate within. If you buy land that is in a location that will become valuable when the metaverse becomes more developed, you will have the opportunity to either lease or sell the land for a considerable sum (much like in “real” life). Additionally, if your plan is to build a business that offers a service in exchange for crypto-coin, your location could be more valuable than renting the space out.

It is important to note, however, that this is something that is constantly changing. From the time I began writing this article until the time I am finishing it, many new sources with different opinions surrounding what is valuable in the metaverse have risen to the surface. Different sources are calling different parts of the metaverse (those which have sold for the highest sums) the future virtual versions of New York City or San Francisco. A solid method to selecting what could become a valuable parcel of land is surveying what is around it.

If there is a large development that appears to be popular, or is currently in the buzz surrounding the metaverse (like SnoopDogg’s Snoopverse in Sandbox), you likely can’t go wrong by selecting a piece of land either adjoining his or located close to it. Other attractions that might be ideal to have in close proximity to your new land may be entertainment venues or resources that are essential. For example, one investor makes a pretty penny from the passive income they receive from their fuel station in the metaverse. This likely doesn’t take a significant amount of land, but the location was an important decision because people need to be able to find it and it needs to be conveniently located.

An important aspect of land in the metaverse to consider, however, is the fact that it does differ from tangible land on our planet. The value of land here on tangible Earth appreciates due to the fact that it is finite. We cannot create a bigger planet with more land, so scarcity drives up value. In this virtual world, however, there may not be this issue of scarcity.

Land in the metaverse may be infinite, we just don’t know yet. Different metaverse platforms may have a finite number of parcels of land, but will there be a limit to the metaverse platforms such as Sandbox, Decentraland, etc.? Will the internet just keep expanding?

Help Buying Land in the Metaverse

There are already virtual real estate companies popping up online to aid you in your adventures buying land in the metaverse. Upon browsing these real estate sites, I found that they can help you buy, rent, and even develop your desired property in the metaverse. Further, they can help you manage the property as well as market and advertise any business you may want to conduct in the metaverse. Some are saying that creating art in this web3 setting is a glimpse into earning a living in the future, and there are companies who are already prepared to help with marketing and sales. There are even some companies who are springing for mortgages for those who want to buy land in the metaverse. It is amazing how far technology has come; we are now able to get mortgages to buy property in a virtual setting. Recently, TerraZero issued one of the first mortgages in the metaverse. The parcel was purchased for $45,000. They did not provide information surrounding the down payment or interest rate, but they did include that they

considered the mortgagee’s financial situation in the same way that they would for a mortgage for a brick-and-mortar home.

Can Your Virtual Land Get Stolen?

When you buy a piece of virtual land in the metaverse, it becomes a crypto asset. In the tangible world, we have tons of different kinds of documentation that establishes ownership over our land, and we oftentimes live on it or have some other physical thing established on it. These factors make it difficult for someone to simply walk in and take it over. However, in the metaverse, where you may not always be present or even able to visit that frequently, you may be concerned about someone hacking into metaverse and taking over the land you buy. While this isn’t impossible, if it did happen, it could be easily traced and what is rightfully yours would be returned to you. Your land is a crypto asset and it is documented in a similar way to cryptocurrency. After you have purchased your land, you acquire the NFT (non-fungible token) title to the parcel. Your NFT should then be stored in your crypto wallet that we discussed earlier. The transactions are recorded in a blockchain. A blockchain stores information electronically and guarantees the security of data, especially when decentralized. When a “block” of data is full, it is essentially “closed off” and a new block of data begins. Then, the blocks of data are “hooked” together in chronological order. Decentralized blockchains (those which are controlled by many people — blockchain for Bitcoin is this way) are immutable, so the data cannot be altered. This provides a clear, hard trail of who has owned what property in the metaverse, and when. So, in the event that your virtual land was in fact stolen, it could be recovered and your investment would be saved.
https://www.businessinsider.com/metaverse-land-buy-real-estate-crypto-asset-2022-1 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/13/analysts-on-metaverse-benefiting-chipmakers-big-tech- crypto.html
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-buy-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse/ https://metaverse.properties/about/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp https://www.curbed.com/2022/01/now-you-can-get-a-mortgage-in-the-metaverse.html