What is Level Transact?

Level Transact is a blockchain-based escrow service made specifically for the real estate industry. It is also part of the "Level" ecosystem:

We started Level On Demand to provide a fixed-price solution to the most sought after services in the real estate world; understanding contracts and financial analysis. Traditionally, you went to a real estate agent, an attorney or hired "consultants", all of whom have a vested interest in the advice they provide. We wanted to do better, and brought together real estate experts from across the country to make it happen. We think $39 for an unbiased review of your contract by an expert just makes sense, and other's agree!

But so many other gears in the real estate machine are cumbersome, expensive, and frankly just plain outdated.

Have you ever really thought about the purpose of real estate escrow? What do the big escrow and title companies really offer to justify the prices they charge?

Title vs. Escrow: Title insurance is a separate service (and fee), usually offered in conjunction with general "escrow" services. Level Transact has plans to offer alternative solutions to traditional title insurance, but for now we're focusing on the escrow process only

There really is a lot that goes into a successful real estate transaction, and for the uninitiated, paying the average escrow fee [$3 per $1,000 of property value] is often worth the peace of mind. But on a $500,000 transaction, $1,500 can be a high price to pay just to have a third party "babysit" the transaction. For investors buying or selling more than a few properties a year, those escrow fees can really start to be a pain.

We started by breaking down all the happenings during a typical escrow:

An executed contract is sent to escrow company
Escrow is "opened", money is deposited and critical dates are noted
Buyer conducts inspections or diligence
Lenders appraise and approve/deny
Contingencies for things like repairs are waived or negotiated
Final inspections take place
Money and property change hands, documents are recorded and escrow "closes"

It seems like a lot is happening, especially when the time window might be less than 30 days, and you are relying on various human variables like inspectors and appraisers to keep things on schedule.

In reality, everyone is just trying to follow the terms agreed to in the original contract, and the escrow company gets paid to throw a flag on the play when someone breaks the rules...

Level Transact is being built into the web 3.0 iteration of real estate escrow. The goals we are striving towards at a basic level are:

Create a blockchain / smart contract / [insert crypto buzzword] real estate escrow platform that absorbs as many repetitive human processes as possible while ensuring the same level of trust and performance
Build a user-friendly product that anyone with the capacity to sign a real estate contract and use services like PayPal would feel immediately comfortable using

Something with simple steps like:

All Escrow Contracts Are Not Equal

Every transaction is unique. Some are all cash, others have multiple lenders involved. Some have major repair issues, and the rare few actually go smoothly with no hiccups. Our team is constantly building, testing and adding features to perfect our escrow contract system, in order to accurately capture and apply any possible scenario to a verifiable blockchain contract.

To learn more about our progress, check out our updates or learn how you can contribute.