There Is A New Way To Sell Real Estate In Ontario

TORONTO, Nov. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toronto has seen its first online real estate auction conclude ? and it was a success.

On The Block, an innovative GTA based real estate company, conducted the auction on its online platform at www.getontheblock.com on Tuesday evening. The preconstruction condo near Yonge/Eglinton had been listed for a couple of weeks before bidding was opened to the public. 

In total, 17 registered bidders were signed up for the auction, and until the final hammer dropped, there were dozens of people watching the action unfold online.

With five minutes left on the clock, a bid came in. The clock extended another 15 minutes, giving all bidders the opportunity to consider increasing the price. When the dust settled, after one more extension of the clock, the bidding closed at $415,000, a large increase from the opening bid of $399,000. The eventual buyer and the seller were very pleased with the process.

?It came to the wire, and we got the best price from all the bidders, and a price that made our seller quite happy,? said Daniel Steinfeld, the company's CEO.

Some of the registered bidders, both Realtors as well as individuals bidding on their own, spoke with On The Block during the process and noted that bidding had surpassed their maximum. In doing so, it also reinforced the company's key concept of transparency, where buyers were never in the dark about how high they needed to bid.

Even the participants who didn't land up bidding were impressed with the process and said that they would be back for future auctions.

?It was quite exciting,? said Jim Barker, the seller of the property. ?The best part was knowing that we got the highest possible offer from all the interested parties.?

?An assignment sale is already an atypical and more complex real estate transaction, so it was an ambitious approach to make this our first auction,? said President and Broker of Record Katie Steinfeld.

Although there was considerably more to disclose and explain due to the nature of the sale, everything was made available to all registered bidders well in advance. This provided the opportunity to know every detail about the process, both of the auction itself, and the steps involved in a unique sale such as this.

Immediately following the close of the auction, the appropriate paperwork was distributed to the successful bidder and the deal was signed within an hour.

This auction was the culmination of a year of research and development for On The Block. By not just showing that people would use the platform, but that it would result in a sale, the company achieved its proof of concept. Users maintained their anonymity from each other, while also being pre-vetted and securely registered before being allowed to bid.

Looking ahead, On The Block is excited to announce more listings on its platform. The full-service brokerage is continuing to work with sellers using the ?traditional' real estate sales approach as well. With other unique features such as their ?No Double Ending Policy', all of their listings, whether auction or not, are getting a premium and transparent service.

?What is most important is that there is now a true choice for people selling real estate in Ontario,? Mr. Steinfeld said. ?Our goal has always been to put the power back in the hands of buyers and sellers, and we believe that we have taken a significant first step to achieving that.?

Learn more at www.getontheblock.com.
Twitter: @getontheblock
Facebook: facebook.com/getontheblock
Instagram: @getontheblock
Auction Page: http://getontheblock.com/Listing/Details/105083375

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (416) 843-7407