Blind bidding is when a buyer bids on a property without knowing the values and conditions of any competing offers. It is believed by many to be a contributing factor to the spike in property value over the last several years.
One of the Home Buyer Bill of rights is focusing on banning blind bidding. The government is looking at ways to make the process of buying a home more fair, open and transparent. This subject has been running around for a long, long time.
A ban on blind bidding could influence people to not make exorbitant offers over-and-above the highest bid, raising comparable prices far higher than they would be.
Bidding wars have been stressful for Buyers. When working on Buyers sides I can see how difficult it can be to help them to make decisions when improving or not improving their offer.
When looking at Homeowners, home sellers, blind bidding enables them to sell their home at an optimal price that reflects current market conditions.
But Could the sellers just work with numbers that are acceptable to them and be open to negotiate it? It’s hard to be convinced that banning blind bidding will achieve the goal. The overall goal of this policy is to reduce price escalation for specific homes and the housing market.
The choice of how to sell a home would continue to rest with the seller. A seller who is the client of a brokerage would be able to direct that brokerage to sell the real estate through either an open or a closed (traditional) process.