Strategy for selling a house - what is the best way to proceed?

Yes, of course, full agreement. I know this from my brother-in-law who lives in Glasgow and was always outbid last year while looking for a bigger apartment. However, he does not complain, as it is the usual procedure there. It is probably also interesting that afterwards (for a small fee?) the winning and the median offer are communicated to the outbid person.

The problem is that as a buyer in an auction process you can only lose. Either you don’t get the contract or Pyrrhus would be proud of you because you pay way too much money. Talk to people who know about it, the bids are sometimes significantly above the asking price and those are already high nowadays.

The market sets the price. You just have to know what the apartment / the house is worth to you. And then the one who pays the highest price wins.

The market sets the price.

Talk to people who know about this, the bids are sometimes significantly above the asking price, and those are already high nowadays.

The market would "regulate" the price alone only if the buyer also decided alone on their willingness to overbid. But with most house purchase interested parties, a bank is involved. And it regularly says, "We consider your creditworthiness for the installment given, but not the value of the collateral property." So then it applies, "thoughts are free, but fantasy prices not so much." Then the deal falls through—how friendly or painful it is depends on all parties involved—and a "next-in-line" is happy. Ultimately, you come to the conclusion with them unnecessarily delayed (which does not always "only cost time"). Therefore, I consider praises of bidding wars to be "short-sighted." The delta between price and value must, if necessary, first be put to the financier. Viewed in the light of day, the bidding war as a gold mine that only a fool would let pass is therefore rather a fairy tale.

I know this from my brother-in-law, who lives in Glasgow and was always outbid last year while looking for a larger apartment. However, he does not complain, as that is the usual procedure there.

Different countries, different customs..

At least here with us, this is not common practice. And I also want to point out that here in DE the bank also assesses the property accordingly and the sales process can be delayed if the creditworthiness or equity of the highest bidder is not sufficient after all.

There are countries where the sales process takes just one day, so the back and forth in negotiations can certainly be done, but here it is well known that it takes significantly longer.

I set my desired price, which was already 50k above the highest valuations of some banks (according to our mortgage broker). The risk would be too great for me that I would not receive the money from the house sale on time for a few thousand more and that maybe other interested parties would subsequently back out.

I set my desired price, which was already 50k above the highest valuations of some banks (according to our financing broker). The risk would be too great for me that I might not receive the money from the house sale in time for a few thousand more and that other interested parties might also drop out afterward.

With an expectation-valuation difference of this magnitude, I would almost certainly expect at least delays behind the scenes. Bidders should also consider that in the event of a failed deal, claims for damages and possibly even an investigation for fraudulent inducement may be initiated against them.

Why should there be delays with a 50k gap? The banks are aware of the market situation, and if the buyer does not intend to finance 110%, it is usually not a problem if the BLW is lower. As a seller, you have to be able to afford leaving money on the table.