In real estate, think of an NFT as a property listing and a contract that can be transacted with.
Contrary to how NFTs have been portrayed elsewhere, the value of the NFT in real estate is NOT in proof of ownership, scarcity, or authenticity. The value lies in its utility and added marketing.
Let’s say you’re looking to lease your apartment. You have to (1) create a listing, (2) find qualified candidates, (3) create a lease contract and (4) collect payment. With an NFT, 3 of these 4 steps can be taken care of. The lease contract could be combined with the listing in the form of an NFT and the payment can be made to get the NFT. All you would be responsible for is finding a qualified candidate. The NFT could be involved in all, any or none of the 3 steps.
The example above was for a lease, but it could similarly be applied to a sale or a short-term rental. Legal and regulatory considerations are the same as if you didn’t use the NFT.
Now let’s think about the added marketing ability. Where do you create a listing? You can do it on MLS or apartments.com or another site that would cost listing fees for each individual platform. With an NFT, you can create it once and it shows up on every platform that lists NFTs, opening the potential buyers to the crypto community.