What an end to blind bidding for real estate could look like
CBC
Critics of the blind bidding process for real estate are pushing for what they say are viable alternatives that could create a better system for both sellers and buyers.
In provinces across Canada, blind-bidding is the default practice when a home attracts multiple offers. In this scenario, buyers compete to offer the highest purchase price on a home without knowing the dollar amount of the other bids.
"I think there are serious issues with the way we are conducting things right now," said Murtaza Haider, a professor of data science and real estate management at Ryerson University.
Haider says an end to blind bidding could have some impact on volatility in housing prices, but more importantly, "greater efficiency and transparency would bring more trust to the industry, and that should be a priority for the real estate sector."
This past election, the federal Liberals made their stance on the issue clear when they said they'd ban blind bidding as part of their housing platform.
In a new poll commissioned by the CBC, the majority of respondents supported an end to blind bidding. The survey of 1,511 Canadians was conducted between Sept. 17 and 19 using Leger's online panel, and found that 52 per cent supported the elimination of blind bidding, 23 per cent wanted things to stay the same, and 25 per cent said they didn't know.
For Jeanhie Park, the experience of offering $230,000 more on a property than she needed to underlines the need for change.
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.