Every day we hear more about cryptocurrencies, but as they become more commonplace many of us will start wondering about the possibilities and limitations of such a currency. The most popular, Bitcoin, is highly volatile but offers many advantages to investors. But will it ever be normal to make large purchases with cryptocurrency, and can you even buy a house with it?
The First Hurdle: The Lender
The vast majority of lenders will not release a mortgage if the deposit is being paid with cryptocurrency. You might wonder why they’d care, but they need to know that the money coming from the buyer is legitimate, as it’s this money that backs up the security of their loan. A very small number of high street lenders will, however, accept a deposit made partially or entirely with cryptocurrency, but in most instances you will need to convert the money into pounds sterling first. There’s so much to do when buying a house, from finding what building survey Birmingham options there are to preparing your own home for sale. But the first job is to find out which lenders are willing to accept customers who are making some, or all, of their deposit with Bitcoin.
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The Second Hurdle: The Conveyancer
So you’ve booked the best building survey Birmingham has to offer and found a lender happy to accept that your deposit will be paid by Bitcoin, but now you have a bigger hurdle: finding a conveyancer who is happy to accept a Bitcoin transfer. If you already have enough cryptocurrency to ask the big questions, then you probably already know enough about Bitcoin to know that it can be associated with criminal activity and money laundering. It’s for this reason that many lenders and conveyancers, who have a responsibility to flag suspicious funds, choose not to accept deposits made with Bitcoin or with another cryptocurrency. It’s worth asking, though, as some modern-minded conveyancers will be happy to do a cryptocurrency transfer.
Start out by doing a bit of research and see if you can find both a lender and a conveyancer who will agree to your use of cryptocurrency. However, if you want a greater choice of mortgages and less hassle, it’s probably wise to convert your cryptocurrency before you plan to use it towards a house purchase.
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