What Is Real Estate Tokenization (And How Does It Actually Work)?
By Saher Khatib – July 2025 Founder of The Token Estate
👋 Hey again,
Last week, I introduced you to a big idea: real estate tokenization.
But what exactly does that mean — and how does it work in real life?
Today, I’m going to break it down in plain English, show you a real example of how someone can buy a share of a $100K property, and compare it to traditional real estate.
Let’s get into it. 👇
🪙 What Is Real Estate Tokenization?
Tokenization is the process of turning ownership of a physical asset — like a house — into digital tokens on a blockchain.
These tokens represent shares of the property.
So instead of one person owning 100%, the property can be split into 1,000 or 10,000 small, tradable parts.
Think of it like buying shares in a company — but here, you’re buying shares in a real-world property.
Each token:
Gives you ownership rights
Earns you a portion of the rent
Increases in value as the property appreciates
And all of this is handled on-chain, meaning you can track everything transparently through the blockchain.
🏠 A Simple Example: $100,000 House → $50 Investment
Let’s say there’s a house worth $100,000.
A platform like Lofty might tokenize that home into 2,000 tokens, each worth $50.
Now, you — or anyone in the world — can buy 1, 10, or 100 of those tokens.
You officially own a legal share of the property via an LLC.
✅ When the tenant pays rent, your portion is sent to your wallet (in crypto or USD).
✅ If the property is sold later at a profit, your share is also paid out.
✅ You can resell your tokens on the platform’s marketplace.
🆚 Traditional Real Estate vs Tokenized Real Estate
Feature Traditional Tokenized
Minimum Investment $50,000+ $50–$100
Ownership Full title or mortgage Fractional via tokens
Rent Payouts Monthly (manual) Daily/weekly(automated)
Legal Work Complex Done for you
Selling Slow & costly Peer-to-peer or platform resale
Access Local only Global & 24/7
🌎 Global Platforms Doing It Now
You don’t need to wait — tokenized real estate is already live:
🇺🇸 Lofty.ai → USA rental properties
🇺🇸 RealT → Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, etc.
🇪🇸 Brickken → Commercial and residential in Europe
🇦🇪 SmartCrowd (UAE, DIFC-regulated) → Fractional real estate starting at AED 500
🌍 ForteXchain / Prypco Mint → New platforms emerging in the UAE
Note: I’m testing global platforms and will review each in future issues.
💡 Why It Matters
Real estate has always been one of the best wealth-building tools. But until now, it was:
Expensive to enter
Hard to manage
Limited to your own country
Tokenization solves that. You can now build a global real estate portfolio from your phone — starting with $50.
📌 Action Steps (If You Want to Start)
🔍 Browse listings on RealT
💬 Ask me anything — reply to this email
👥 Share this with someone curious about real estate investing
🔜 Coming Next:
“5 Tokenized Properties You Can Buy Right Now (From $50)”
In Issue #3, I’ll give you specific listings across the U.S., Europe, and Dubai — with real links and commentary.
Until next time — keep stacking smart,
Saher Khatib
Founder of The Token Estate
🌍 tokenestatenews.com
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