How to Buy Land in The Metaverse: Virtual Property Marketplace Guide

Are you wondering how to buy land in the metaverse or want to learn about the Metaverse real estate concept? 

If yes, you are on the right page! 

The notion of the ‘metaverse‘ spread its wings from not-so-common science fiction to a much-talked subject recently since Facebook rebranded to Meta Platforms. 

A blend of various virtual worlds, Metaverse is a virtual place where users can interact as avatars, their virtual versions, to socialize, play, work, or shop, conduct business meetings, attend virtual concepts, and a lot more. 

Simply put, Metaverse real estate is a digital land in virtual worlds. Investors of such lands are the owners of parcels of virtual lands where people can sell NFTs, play games, and socialize.  

You will find the Metaverse real estate concept pretty similar to that of real-world property. 

Real estate in Metaverse is a digital space in 3D cities where users can simulate real-life pursuits, such as gaming, meeting, trading, and partying. 

What is Real Estate In The Metaverse?

Virtual land or property inside a virtual world or alternative reality is called Real Estate in the Metaverse. Users can interact with real and virtual objects and environments in the shared collaborative virtual space called the Metaverse. Real estate is represented in this digital world by virtual land, buildings, and other structures that users can buy, sell, or rent.

As interest in virtual reality and blockchain technology has grown, so has the demand for real estate in the Metaverse. Virtual real estate can be represented by one-of-a-kind, non-fungible digital assets that can be created using blockchain technology. These virtual assets give users a sense of ownership and investment potential within the Metaverse, which can be purchased and sold just like real estate.

Building virtual businesses, designing immersive experiences, or even expressing one’s artistic vision is possible in the Metaverse using virtual real estate. The demand for virtual real estate will likely rise as virtual worlds become more sophisticated and realistic, making it a potentially profitable investment opportunity for those interested in the nexus between technology and real estate.

Putting Some Light on The Facts and Figures, We Will Notice 

• In 2021, the cost of Metaverse property surged about 700%, making the market reach approximately $500 million.
• In 2022, the market is likely to twofold to about $1 billion. 
• Regarding revenue, the demand for Metaverse real estate worldwide in 2020 was approximately $358 million. 
• From 2020 to 2050, the revenue of the Metaverse real estate market will grow at a CAGR of 45.2% and will reach $3600 million in 2025.
• There are 622,436 plots of land across the ten largest metaverses.
• The combined value of land sales across the ten leading virtual world platforms is $1.9 billion.
• In 2021, the worldwide Metaverse in the Real Estate market was worth USD 821.9 million. It is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.10% during the forecast period and reach a value of USD 5953.6 million by 2028.

Must Read: What is Metaverse? A Futuristic Ride to Virtual Worlds

How Does Metaverse Real Estate Work?

Real estate in the Metaverse functions similarly to physical real estate, denoting ownership of a virtual space or object. Users can purchase, sell, or rent virtual property, which can be used for various projects like establishing virtual companies or developing immersive experiences.

The fact that virtual real estate is typically represented by non-fungible digital assets and frequently uses blockchain technology is one of the critical distinctions between physical and virtual real estate. The ability to uniquely identify and verify virtual property gives users a sense of ownership and authenticity within the Metaverse.

Like physical real estate, virtual real estate can vary in size, location, and price. A virtual property’s value may increase based on market demand if it has distinguishing features or a desirable location.

Overall, the Metaverse’s real estate market is expanding and provides chances for virtual entrepreneurship, investment, and creativity. The potential for virtual real estate to play a significant role in the digital economy will grow as virtual worlds become more complex and realistic.

Real Estate Is a Business in The Metaverse, so Why Not Reap Its Benefits? 

Various giant brands, famed celebrities, and businesses worldwide have already stepped into the Metaverse Land game. The new norm followed nowadays is buying, selling, and earning goods. 

Whether it be real estate or Virtual real estate, both are meant to flourish. A year back, developers hit the trails to craft Virtual worlds with the intent of grabbing huge success. Ahead, they kickstarted selling lands to interested people in the hope of making profits. Exceptionally, they achieved their set objectives. 

On the other edge, real estate Metaverse developers or agents have crafted Virtual reality to allow users or players to use tools for generating avatars similar to or better than them to work, socialize, and make beneficial investments, such as buying land. 

Why Are People Buying Virtual Land in The Metaverse? – Investment in Virtual Real Estate

After Meta put forth its goal of investing in the virtual reality space, more people started showing interest in VR, AR, and metaverse real estate. 

Investing in the metaverse would sound odd, but two factors magnetize investors in this space.

Factor 1:

As we witness in the real world, the virtual world property is also available in a limited supply. Today, clutching the ownership of virtual real estate points to owning an exclusive parcel of land in a virtual world, the Metaverse. 

With these parcels of land, you can perform varied things, as you can emerge with income-generating properties, such as leasable venues or buildings that promote a brand or charge an amount. 

Factor 2:

Being unique, every parcel of Metaverse is secured by a non-fungible token (NFT). Fundamentally, an NFT is ownership proof for something digital or even real.  

Virtual real estate NFT ensures your ownership and permits you to resell the property to another owner. Besides, by diminishing the title work needed, it automatically records every transaction for that property. It’s a 21st-century digital deed. 

More Reasons to Invest in Virtual Real Estate

• We can socialize, play, and conduct other activities with an individual’s digital land. 
• In the Metaverse, real estate permits people to meet online. 
• Creators can even monetize their content by exchanging their NFTs. 
• Brands can use their Metaverse property to plan virtual product releases, advertise their services, and craft exceptional client experiences. 
• Like in the real world, we can develop, lease, or flip Metaverse properties. 
• For real estate investors, digital land parcels are a possible investment. 

How to Buy Land in Metaverse

It may seem daunting to buy property in Metaverse because of some terminology and certain processes. But, let you know, it demands to follow a simple process to become an owner of Metaverse digital land. 

Like we buy cryptocurrency, we can say we need to follow the same process to invest in virtual real estate. 

You need to create your investment portfolio and fix an amount you would like to risk for owning virtual land. 

You can opt for any of the two ways below to buy virtual metaverse land:

• On NFT marketplace
• Direct on a particular Metaverse platform.

After choosing the metaverse platform on which you wish to buy land, you should search the secondary NFT marketplace, such as Binance NFT or OpenSea, and their marketplace to get the best offer. 

Before you move to purchase land, you need to ensure that you follow the following steps:

Also Read : NFT Marketplace Development: Complete Guide

Step 1: Choose a Metaverse Platform

First, you should choose a Metaverse platform (know in detail later) you wish to invest. 

Your decision for a real estate metaverse platform depends on land size, price, and the seller. 

If you have started with a name in your mind, you can continue with that; otherwise, you need to reach out and find which platform suits the best per your needs. 

As the real estate prices in some areas are pretty expensive in your city, you can go with developing areas that offer you some magnetic deals, although they arrive with higher risks. 

For example, Decentraland has hosted various virtual fashion shows promoting brands, such as D&G or Adidas, and a 4-day festival with Paris Hilton and Deadmau5 that elevates the demand and revenue. 

Step 2: Set Your Digital Wallet

You should set up a digital wallet to conduct virtual purchases in the Metaverse. 

Beforehand, various metaverse platforms and NFT marketplaces demand purchasing metaverse crypto. For that, you need first to register a digital wallet account. 

Now, we will pull the wallet into the limelight. The wallet type should be per the metaverse platform on which you want to buy land. 

For instance, Decentraland can link with Metamask, WalletConnect, Coinbase, or Formatic Wallets. 

Integrating a digital wallet is usually recommended to add to your browser. It will offer easy-of-use by facilitating you to automatically log in and link separate accounts – the platform and the wallet accounts. 

You can operate all the metaverse platforms using their unique currencies. The value of their specific currency stays unaffected by others’. 

Whatever wallet you pick, you should buy the cryptocurrency your chosen platform supports. 

For example, Sandbox uses SAND, while Decentraland uses MANA. So, you can’t use SAND and MANA interchangeably between metaverses. 

You can buy these digital currencies on crypto exchanges, like Coinbase or Binance, directly linking with your digital wallet. 

Once you sign up with a digital crypto wallet and buy some crypto, you can move on to the next stage and choose a piece of land you want. 

Step 3 Access the NFT Marketplace & Consider Chief Aspects

After choosing a metaverse platform, linking your digital wallet, and purchasing some crypto, next, it’s time to select the best plot of land that would be best to buy. 

In the Metaverse, all the properties are non-fungible tokens (NFT). You need to go to the platform’s marketplace to buy virtual land. 

Consider the below chief aspect of buying land in the Metaverse:

• Price of the land,
• Size of the virtual land,
• The digital currency in which you need to pay for your land,
• Seller of the land,
• Your transaction history,
• The size of the metaverse platform,
• Utility caliber (events space, gallery, meeting areas, shop, and more), 
• Is your area close to shops, hubs, event spaces, galleries, etc.? 

Like in the real world, buying a property near shops, hubs, and other public spaces would be more expensive; the same goes in this virtual world. 

Post that, contrast and compare the prices and the location preference. Moreover, keep in mind your plan for land management, like would you like to sell it post it reaches a particular value, or rent it to prominent brands, or are you planning to pass it on to your kids?

Step 4 Link Your Wallet with The platform’s Marketplace & Complete Your Purchase.

Whichever platform you choose to buy virtual land, be it Sandbox, Decentraland, or any other, you need to connect your wallet with the platform’s marketplace to continue your purchase. 

So, after you choose a metaverse property suiting your needs and add funds to your digital wallet, you should head to the metaverse platform directly and secondary NFT metaverse, connect to your account and click buy. 

The NFT you buy includes coordinates to the metaverse real estate area you control and exhibits its location on the metaverse map. After the transaction confirmation, you can find the NFT in your digital wallet, and you will be registered as your land’s new owner. 

Further, per your intent of investing in virtual real estate, you can either keep your land to pass on to your generations, hold it as a long-term investment, develop something on it, or flip it to earn profit. 

To ensure a hassle-free and seamless transaction, you can put extra coins in your wallet for an unreported transaction.

Top Metaverse Real Estate Platforms 

Popular platforms to purchase metaverse land are:

1. Decentraland

A decentralized virtual reality platform, Decentraland is powered by the Ethereum blockchain. This platform facilitates users to create, monetize, and experience their apps and content. 

Within Decentraland, a metaverse platform, the traversable, finite, 3D virtual space is known as LAND. It’s a non-fungible digital asset well-maintained in an Ethereum smart contract. The land is split into parcels, identified by cartesian coordinates (x,y). The community members already own such parcels, and users can buy them using MANA, a cryptocurrency token of Decentraland. This way, users get complete control over the apps and environments that they build, which may range from anything, such as static 3D scenes, to excessively engaging apps or games development. 

A Canadian Investment Firm, Token.com, stated that, in November 2021, it paid off around $2.5 million in Decentraland’s Fashion District for virtual land. 

2. OpenSea

A revolutionary decentralized marketplace, OpenSea is best for buying and selling NFTs, and collectible digital things, such as avatars, in-game assets, art, and trading cards. Besides, OpenSea is an end-to-end NFT, Metaverse real estate marketplace, and also the UI layer between routine consumers and blockchain, making NFTs easy for all to buy or access. 

Also, you can use OpenSea, a metaverse NFT marketplace, to get useful insights relevant to the NFT market. To use this platform, you need not be trained. You need to develop an NFT collection, and next, you can kickstart uploading NFTs in the accepted formats. At last, you would like to append details about your NFT project, like Telegram/Twitter, if it’s for public use. 

In August 2021, OpenSea reached $3.5 billion in NFT trading volume, which was just $21 million the previous year. You can say it experienced about a 12,000% rise in trading activity, which marks its ultimate success. 

3. Sandbox

An Ethereum-based metaverse, or we can say, virtual world, Sandbox facilitates digitally designing, sharing, and selling assets. It targets disrupting the earlier accepted gaming market by allowing users to own everything they craft in the virtual world. 

Republic Realm, Metaverse real estate developer, in November 2021 declared that it paid around $4.3 million in Sandbox for land. An investor bought a virtual plot in Sandbox, in the same year, adjacent to Snoop Dogg’s digital mansion for approximately $450,000. 

4. Somnium Space

An open-source Metaverse platform, Somnium Space permits users to buy digital land, develop buildings and homes, start businesses, play hyper-realistic games, and organize live events and concerts. You can access it through PC, VR, and the web, and you can access it on mobile, also. The target is to offer users the best immersive virtual reality experience. As this platform allows easy entry, we hope it may make metaverse technologies accessible to its users. It targets to develop its blockchain-based monetization and revenue-earning system.

Somnium Space, a decentralized, independent, and free-market economy platform, intends to offer users democratized space to permit them to trade, earn, and craft monetization assets there. To attain this, this metaverse platform reaps the advantage of the Ethereum blockchain network. A virtual reality world, Somnium Space is developed on the Ethereum blockchain. It enables users to buy digital land, create homes, and eat at restaurants. Also, users can travel via the virtual world and visit the places developed by other Somnium Space users. Users can access this world on their mobile devices, VR headsets, and desktop PCs. 

5. Voxels

Formerly known as Cryptovoxels, Voxels, a Metaverse platform, is expanding limitlessly. It’s the easiest among other platforms to start and develop. It’s a virtual world crafted on the Ethereum blockchain utilizing the ERC-721 token. Users can utilize every outstanding possibility of NFTs and the decentralized economy in this virtual environment. Users can:

• Craft avatars
• Buy virtual lands
• Develop stores
• Craft an art gallery with NFTs
• Play games built particularly for the platform
• Interact with other players.

It doesn’t provide various gamified elements while writing and is chiefly a social hub. Landowners on Voxels tend to create artistic creations, event venues, or NFT art galleries. This platform always targets to be interoperable and accessible with a wider blockchain ecosystem. 

In early 2022, in Voxels, the average sale price per week for land reached around $14,000. According to WeMeta, in August 2022, it also fell to about $700 and even less. 

What Are Some of The Avenues for Real Estate Investors in Metaverse?

In NFT trading, digital parcels and metaverse real estate have enormous caliber. That’s why Metaverse contributes by offering a profit-yielding and innovative way of experiencing virtual reality. 

Metaverse has entirely transformed properties and real estate by tokenizing land into NFTs. In Metaverse, a few basic avenues for real estate investors are as below:

1. Metaverse Gaming

Metaverse improves the reliability of decentralized gaming, offering varied games post logging into the platform. Apart from that, it offers a complete gaming world with a plethora of innovative options where the users can craft home and other in-game commodities. Such creations are then stored in NFTs and generate high profits. This type of in-game creation and gaming are included in the P2E model, which states you need to play the game to earn real currencies. 

Types of Metaverse Gaming

2. Metaverse Digital Storefronts

With Metaverse, top company and brand outlets are integrated into their system and have digital storefronts that permit users to enter the Metaverse and navigate through the virtual stack of many NFTs showcased on the Metaverse store. Users and participants can then pick whatever they want to buy and click on the digital commodity to pay using chosen payment methods that are already registered in the Metaverse system. 

Different Virtual Shopping Experiences

3. Metaverse Entertainment

Metaverse plays a crucial role in the entertainment industry as it links many talent hubs and specific groups of audiences to taste entertainment with an immersive experience. 

In the upcoming years, people will choose Metaverse to attend concerts and watch the cinema. They will also wish to witness the experience of virtual cinema halls and theme parks for entertainment activities. Besides, participants can also invest in attaining ownership of such land parcels comprising theaters and parts. 

Types of Metaverse Entertainment

Challenges & Risks of Investing in The Metaverse

Metaverse needs to address the below challenges to succeed as a chief platform. 

1. Platform Interoperability

One of the biggest challenges is the lack of uniformity and interoperability. 

HTML allows browsing the internet from any device and browser. A protocol with a similar trait will help users move between metaverses and their devices.

Moreover, we can exchange information and connect regardless of the device we use with any operating system. This way, app developers and content creators can deliver their products with minimal effort. Similarly, metaverse platforms and devices should deliver such potential to content providers and users. 

2. Ease-Of-Use & Usefulness

In the consumers’ context, usefulness is worth spending money and time on interacting with content, buying, playing, and collaborating in the metaverse. Metaverse needs tough-to-install and expensive AR/VR tools, which a smaller consumer segment will hardly adopt. 

3. Value to Companies

Brands should reap benefits and value out of the metaverse to attain success. Businesses of varied verticals need to get deeper and explore this new platform. 

Future of Metaverse – What to Expect

There are varied successful opportunities for consumers and brands in the fitness and gaming industries. Besides, these other verticals can also come forth with valuable products and user experiences. 

For example, the medical and healthcare fields hold a lot of opportunities, like improved telemedicine experiences and better healthcare access for users and providers, beating the need for physical presence. 

When it comes to Metaverse, it buds an opportunity to craft a body organ’s digital twin or a 3-D format of a human body that may permit conducting surgeries and diagnosing diseases and their treatment. 

In education and training, metaverse implementation is already successful. 

When we talk about the entertainment and publishing industries, they offer exceptional experiences in the Metaverse. It adds interactive, immersive, and unique experiences to entertainment modes, such as movies, sports, shows, and live concerts.

While considering Metaverse as a delivery channel, you will get to know that it can not only regenerate existing content into another platform but emerges with an opportunity to recraft content’s interactive version that may allow users to engage and immerse in with the content. 

So, we can expect that the future of Metaverse is bright; experts will constantly modify it to make it better with time. 

How Can Emizentech Help in the Development Of Metaverse Real Estate?

We offer perfectly crafted real estate metaverse development services that can assist you in building your virtual land and even sell it to another user in the Metaverse space. Be it the launch of appealing themes or the development of NFT land, we proffer real estate metaverse utilizing the latest technologies per your business needs. 

Conclusion

Digital real estates perform like the actual real estate industry. Those looking to buy Metaverse real estate can move ahead and grab the available opportunities. 

But, let you know that virtual lands that are digital assets arrive with enormous risks for beginners and experienced investors. So, you should research before investing in metaverse real estate. 

Would you like to create your own virtual real estate marketplace using metaverse technology? You’ve come to the right place; emizentech’s skilled metaverse developer can turn your metaverse concepts into reality.

 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Buy Land in The Metaverse