RealFlip Founder Jaimee Ligan champions blockchain for transparency in real estate transactions

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Despite the inflation that the Philippines is currently experiencing, the Southeast Asian country is primarily performing well in the residential real estate market. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the national residential real estate price index for 2022 rose by 7.7%. Additionally, house pricing increased by 12.9% in 2023 due to emerging trends in the country’s real estate market.

Although the market for the sector looks great, owning a house or a piece of land in the Southeast Asian country remains complicated and lured with too-good-to-be-true promises. A startup headed by Jaimee Ligan—part of the first cohort of Block Dojo Philippines—hopes to make the real estate process more transparent.

At the first Block Dojo Philippines Bootcamp in Bataan, CoinGeek Backstage caught up with Ligan to learn more about her ideas for her startup company RealFlip (formerly known as SwiftClose) and how she intends to integrate blockchain in the real estate escrow process.

“I plan to pull up a real estate proptech firm that would simplify real estate transactions from offer to close,” Ligan, who has been working in the industry for almost ten years now, told CoinGeek Backstage.

“Basically what I envisioned the platform to be is that from the very initial point of contact with the seller, when [a buyer] want to make an offer, [their] broker or [them] can make an offer to the seller and the seller [or the broker are] already a party to that transaction. So they see it, and it can be signed digitally, or blockchain can enable it [whether] they accept it or not…basically, it’s a way to have a fairer process, a fairer and more transparent process where someone from overseas can see all of [these] stages happening,” she explained.

Ligan noted that one of the biggest hurdles in real estate is often seen in security and documentation. Further looking at the pain points in the industry, the RealFlip founder sees blockchain as a solution for a more transparent and immutable real estate ownership and escrow program.

“What’s happening right now is that brokers or agents are trying to communicate through Viber and trying to have someone deposit the money to the seller’s account. Then [the buyer] is not sure what happens after—maybe they end up using [their] money—there’s a lot of mistrust in these transactions, and I’m looking for a way to help streamline everything and solve a lot of these problems,” she explained.

“When people enter into real estate transactions, immediately [they’ll] feel a sense of dread. I want it to be easy, swift, and painless. At the end of the day, if people get paid faster, then it’s a lot better for everyone else,” Ligan added.

RealFlip is part of first cohort of the Block Dojo Philippines, the regional arm of Block Dojo U.K. Block Dojo Philippines is a venture builder that seeks early-stage startups, accelerates their businesses with extensive training, and provides them access to investing funding rounds.

Watch: Block Dojo Philippines Bootcamp—Filipino entrepreneurs embrace blockchain