A Toronto condo sat on the market for months — then the seller tried open bidding. It sold in just over a week

“We really had to sell it,” she said. “But it’s a tough market out there. Nothing is moving with such high interest rates.” 

The couple had initially listed it in August, before dropping the price twice for the two-bedroom, just under 900-square-foot penthouse. By February, with time running out, the couple decided to try the open bidding process and in just over a week the property sold — albeit a few thousand under asking.

Open bidding is a new approach to selling and buying homes in Ontario, meant to provide more transparency during the bidding process. New rules brought in by the province allow sellers in Ontario to disclose details of submitted offers to potential buyers, something they were previously banned from doing.

Not many sellers have opted into the process since the new rules came into effect Dec. 1, 2023, real estate agents told the Star. Blind bidding is seen as more advantageous for sellers because buyers, unaware of what others are offering, can overbid and push up the sale price. But experts say open bidding can suit sellers who are struggling to off-load their property or sell in a market downturn, as it could attract more buyers. 

It was Carter’s real estate agent, Anne Marie Lorusso, who suggested the couple use open bidding to help sell her condo.

“It was my first time doing an open bid for a sale,” Lorusso said. “So I was learning everything in real time.” 

They used Openn, a real estate transaction platform that allows sellers to list their properties online and facilitate a virtual bidding process.

On the platform, sellers can choose whether the process is open or blind. The seller then selects a date to allow buyers on the platform to begin bidding, said Ryan Norrish, head of growth at Openn. 

The selling agent can input the bids into the online platform or the buyer’s agent can input the information and receive automatic updates on the bidding process, he said.

The seller is in control of what bid information is visible to other buyers, such as offer price, conditions, down payment, closing date and financing. The agents’ names are disclosed but not the names of the sellers or buyers, he said. 

“You can pick and choose what you want the other buyers to see,” Norrish said.

If two buyers come in with similar prices, the seller can then choose to reveal the closing date for example, so if someone has a better closing date, it gives them the competitive edge, Lorusso added.

“It’s then up for the other buyer to match that closing date or not, so there’s different ways for the seller to be in control of the process and for the other buyers to see what they’re up against.” 

Lorusso was with a representative on the phone at Openn guiding her through the process, she said, and with more practice “it will become easier with time.” 

On Feb. 24, the first offer came in for their Etobicoke condo, after the listing was live to viewing on Openn for eight days. There was a total of three offers but it ultimately came down to two buyers who kept outbidding each other by $2,000.

“It was so exciting seeing the offers come in,” Carter said. “It felt almost like a live auction, with them one-upping each other a few grand at a time.” 

Then, Carter and her husband decided on the best buyer. Though they didn’t want to disclose the sale price, they said they chose someone whose bid came in $3,000 shy of their asking price but had the best conditions.

On Feb. 27, Lorusso and her clients arrived at a conditionally accepted offer.

Mitul Kadakia, a broker at Save Max 365 and the buyers’ real estate agent, said his clients liked the transparency of open bidding — they knew exactly what other buyers offered and trusted the process more than a traditional offer night where buyers can overbid. 

“When there’s multiple offers this can be a great tool,” Kadakia said. “It gives a more realistic approach to buying and selling property.” 

For Carter, it also meant she was able to finally sell her property and start the couple’s next chapter in Florida, where she and her husband bought a hotel.

“I would really suggest using open bidding in this high interest rate environment,” Carter said.

“It also shows you what buyers are willing to pay for your property and can let you know if you’ve priced it too high. We all want the highest price we can get for our home, but sometimes what we list isn’t realistic.”