Table of contents
Due to all the discussions about unfair bidding practices, there is suddenly a lot of attention on public bidding systems for purchasing homes.
We think it's a good time to take a look at all these bidding systems. What forms are there in the Netherlands and what bidding solutions are there abroad? And do they work?
- Bidding practices in the news.
- Public bidding solutions in the Netherlands
- Solutions from abroad
1. Bidding practices in the news
A mandatory introduction. The tension has been in the air for a while now, as house prices have been rising for consecutive years. More and more newspapers and websites are writing about the ever-increasing prices.
Starters are often identified as the losers in this. Searching for a cause and a solution to the problem, the role of real estate agents is not overlooked.
The discussion around the bidding practices in the housing market began to erupt with the article bearing the title above in Trouw on March 20, 2021, by Nikki Brands, Sven van Diepen, and Marte de Vries.
They shared the experiences of buyers. The buyers had experienced that purchasing agents contacted the selling agent just before the bidding deadline: 'What is the highest bid?' With the distressing result that buyers secured a house because they bid 1,000 more than the second bid.
From then on, more and more voices were raised that something must be done. Vereniging Eigen Huis launched a Report Point for unfair bidding practices.
Not surprising. Vereniging Eigen Huis likes to present itself as a representative of homeowners' interests. Vereniging Eigen Huis is a combination of an association and a set of companies that together generate 32 million in revenue. We can learn a thing or two from them.
The major real estate agent associations VBO and NVM also joined the debate. There was much at stake for the associations because:
- their real estate agents (members of the associations) are being portrayed in a bad light, and
- they are trying to seize this opportunity to make the real estate agent profession a protected profession again.
It is crucial for the NVM to maintain a positive public opinion about real estate agents. Their property, the housing website Funda, is under fire because there are parties claiming that Funda's abuse of power unnecessarily increases the importance of real estate agents.
As a result of all the attention, parliamentary questions were posed to the responsible Minister Ollongren. She had to respond to parliamentary questions on this topic as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
That resulted in gems of sentences, like this one: 'As a result of rising house prices, more and more must be paid for a home purchase.'
The parliamentary letter did not go beyond an encouragement for more transparency. No major interventions were announced. See here the complete parliamentary letter (PDF).
A number of savvy parties contacted the media to bring attention to their bidding systems. Some of these bidding platforms had been around for a while but gained renewed attention due to the discussion.
Below, you can read about the various forms of public bidding in the Netherlands and abroad.
Bidding process vs. Auction
What makes the process a bit more complex, and this applies to all bidding systems, is that the legal reflection period remains in force. As a buyer, you can still withdraw.
Available public bidding forms in the Netherlands
Bidding systems offered by industry organizations
NVM Online Bidding
The NVM offers the possibility to sell a house with public bids.
NVM Online Bidding is a bidding form where bids are publicly visible during the process. The names of the bidders are anonymous (they receive a characteristic). It is also visible whether the bid was made with reservations.
The platform also offers the possibility to set up an Autobot. This is a tool that automatically bids above the last bid for you until your set limit is reached.
Unlike an auction, the house is not automatically awarded to the highest bidder. The seller ultimately decides to whom the house is awarded.
The judgment:
+ Bids visible during the process
+ Automatic bidding with Autobot
- Only sellers with an NVM real estate agent
o Names of the bidders not visible
o Award remains the choice of the sellers
Bidding systems offered by real estate agents
De Gratis Makelaar
De Gratis Makelaar has a bidding system that is very similar to that of the NVM. The main difference is that users use a pseudonym for their bids.
De Gratis Makelaar is a VBO real estate agent that allows you as a seller to do a lot yourself. The costs for this are charged to the buyer as an auction fee.
Bieden en Wonen
The bidding platform from Bieden en Wonen is also very similar to the NVM model. They also have an autobot variant: Proxy Bid.
