Live.Buying a house through a closed-cover bid is becoming increasingly common. From April it will even be possible digitally, because then SmartBid will be launched. It is an online bidding service that can be offered by any broker on its own website and on classifieds platforms. Kristophe Thijs of the Confederation of Real Estate Professions Flanders (CIB) answers the three most important questions.
What is it?
“SmartBid is a digital bidding service that allows the real estate agent to correctly set up, follow up and handle a bidding process. Any candidate can make a bid, but they are not bidding against each other.”
How does the bidding work?
“Candidate buyers can bid on a property through SmartBid, based on all the necessary information that is made available. The real estate agent chooses for which homes this happens, in a way that suits his office. The SmartBid platform can therefore be integrated into the broker’s website and classifieds sites. Everything is arranged via a central hub.”
Is this legally watertight?
“Today, all kinds of bidding procedures with different rules are started, each with their advantage and preference for the seller or intermediary, but not always sufficiently legally substantiated. Via SmartBid we will start bidding under closed cover, but we are looking at whether other procedures are also possible.”
It is not possible for buyers to bid against each other. Legally speaking, only notaries are allowed to organize such a public sale, whether or not digitally on their platform biddit.be.
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