House purchase - Experiences with open bidding process?

But it always takes two to bid up. ;)

Otherwise, I have to point out: If I sell a house through a realtor, I still decide who gets the contract. The realtor is allowed to advise, but that's all he may do – at least with me.

Of course, to the one who offers the most. I would squeeze the lemon just like that to the last drop nowadays. Today, you get hundreds of inquiries within 2 days as soon as the property is in a reasonably sought-after region/location.

We also looked at some existing properties here (Rhein-Main). The craziest case was a detached single-family house (prefabricated house from the late 80s with, no joke, 150k DM construction costs), a little over 500 sqm of land and 45 km away from Mainz. It was listed for 350k, noticeably cheap. Of course, strong interest was expressed to the realtor within 5 minutes. The next day a viewing was arranged, we were already number 5 early in the afternoon and were immediately told afterwards: We want to buy it and would possibly even offer a bit more if necessary. Well, he took that notion away from us immediately and mentioned that he had already heard that 5 times today. He wanted to do more viewings over the weekend and we should submit a final offer by Monday. Thought about it briefly and offered 410k, which of course (once again) was not enough. And this was really nothing special, also in immediate vicinity to a correctional facility. Nevertheless, the realtor had to take the listing off Immo**** within 12 hours because otherwise, according to his own statement, he would have been drowned in inquiries. Unfortunately, we did not find out where the highest bid ultimately was. I suspect something around 450k because some people are seriously crazy and no longer think rationally. I mean, the house was generally in good condition, but even there, at least floors and bathrooms were long overdue, and just those two items alone can eat up another 50k…

Conclusion: We have given up on "bidding procedures." Without unlimited resources, you can basically forget it. There is (almost) always someone who offers more. I don't even want to know how many investors/millionaires from all over the world are currently parking their money in such properties here.

Today, you get hundreds of inquiries within 2 days as soon as the property is located in a reasonably sought-after region/location.

So it wasn't the number of inquiries that was the issue for us, but many of them—seriously estimated more than 90%—were interested but had no realistic price expectations, so I wouldn't immediately believe that a genuine offer is hopeless.

Of course to the one who offers the most. I would squeeze the lemon to the last drop in today's times as well. Today, you get hundreds of inquiries within 2 days as soon as the property is in a somewhat sought-after region/location.

We also looked at some existing properties here (Rhine-Main). The craziest case was a detached single-family house (prefabricated house from the late 80s with, no joke, 150k DM construction costs), a little over 500 sqm of land and 45 km away from Mainz. It was listed for 350k, noticeably cheap. Of course, strong interest was expressed to the realtor within 5 minutes. The next day, a viewing was arranged, we were already number 5 early in the afternoon and were immediately told afterward: We want to buy it and would perhaps even pay a bit more if necessary. Well, he quickly took that hope away by mentioning that he had already heard that 5 times today. He wanted to conduct further viewings over the weekend and we should submit a final bid by Monday. After some consideration, we offered 410k, but of course (once again) that was not enough. And this really was nothing special, also located right next to a correctional facility. The realtor still had to take the listing off Immo**** within 12 hours because otherwise, according to his own statement, he would have been overwhelmed with inquiries. Unfortunately, we never found out what the final highest bid was. I suspect somewhere around 450k, because some people are honestly a bit nuts and no longer think rationally. I mean, the house was generally in good condition, but even there floors and bathrooms were long overdue, and just those two items alone could cost another 50k…

Conclusion: We are done with the “auction procedure.” Without unlimited resources, you can basically forget it. There is (almost) always someone who bids more. I don’t even want to know how many investors/millionaires from all over the world are parking their money in properties like these right now.

An acquaintance wants to sell her house with right of residence. The first to get in touch was a Swiss real estate company...

The first to respond was a Swiss real estate company...

There couldn’t be anything better for them either. After all, they certainly don’t want to move in themselves.

I mean, the house was generally in good condition, but even there, at least the floors and bathrooms were long overdue, just in these two items you can sink another 50k...

Not at all. "Generally in good condition" means it is ready to move in. Cheap paint, cheap floors, retiling the bathroom once, new sink and you are completely done for under 10,000€. Accordingly, the price is bid high. I can recommend everyone to take another look at the missed houses after 1-2 years. The garden and the view through the windows already give the right impression.

Here (Hessen) it is unfortunately now the case that plots of land offered by cities/municipalities are only sold to the highest bidder. This points system, according to which plots used to be allocated, seems to no longer exist. Because the bids end up being so high, the starting price goes up every time. You don't even need to use the standard land value as a reference here anymore. That the cities and municipalities exploit this and fill their pockets is absolutely incomprehensible.

Bidding procedures were never an option for us. We never wanted to support this price inflation.