Just when you finally thought you got a handle on when and how to buy property, the housing market has thrown you for another loophole: You now have another option for buying land, except it’s not a house you can actually live in, it’s property that exists on the internet.
“Wait, wait, wait—why would I buy a house that only exists on the internet? Is this like that one time my little sister accidentally spent $100 on Roblox?”
Before you ask us, you might want to ask the people who are spending millions of dollars on virtual properties in the metaverse. But we’ll give you a rundown.
What Is The Metaverse?
By now, you’ve probably heard of the Metaverse. It’s a product from Facebook, who recently changed their name to Meta to signify their new venture into a virtual world they created called the Metaverse, that they claim will soon be a part of our new normal, including virtual houses, virtual clothes, and of course, virtual friends.
It’s now been about six months since Facebook announced it was rebranding to Meta, and they’ve since launched the Metaverse, a VR social platform (similar to Roblox or Fortnite) where you can (virtually) party with celebs like Paris Hilton or attend Metaverse Fashion Week.
What Is The Benefit Of Investing In Virtual Housing?
Okay, so now that you have an idea of what the Metaverse is, why would you want to invest in it? Especially if you don’t see yourself spending hours in a virtual reality party at Snoop Dogg’s virtual mansion?
Well, in reality, investing can be a great quick cash grab. For example, one user bought a penthouse in Worldwide Webb Land’s metaverse for $36,000 and sold it two days later for $126,000. In another example, Sandbox developed 100 islands that sold for $15,000 upon release, and are now listed for resale for more than $100,000. Of course, investing in property that you can’t even touch is also a big risk, but so are most high reward investments.
Where Should I Start?
At this stage in the metaverse, most real estate sales have been going down in the “Big Four” — Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium ($501 million in sales in 2021 with $1 billion predicted for 2022). So, this would be a good place to start. In terms of what property to choose, experts say that metaverse land value will likely increase around the most popular attractions, so that’s also something to look out for. Currently, prices are rising on properties near Snoop Dogg’s planned partnership and Atari’s new development. If you have a good chunk of money set aside for investing, purchasing property in the metaverse can be a quick and easy way to get a high return on your investment. Of course, you have to also be prepared for the Metaverse market to be un