If you are house hunting when the buyer pool goes up and the inventory goes down you can bet that you’re headed into the nightmare world of a”bidding war”.

Sellers Dream

Multiple buyers outbidding each other for a property generally means more cash in the seller’s wallet. It’s no longer a dream for some homeowners as competition for available homes in the GTA and in other parts of the province where supply is limited, has resulted in some properties selling for $100,000 or more over the asking price.

Buyers Nightmare

First bidding wars are not like an auction. In an auction you know what the others are offering, not so in a bidding war.

“you’re not going to have the advantage of knowing where the leading bid stands so you can respond accordingly. The only information that must be shared amongst buyers in a competing offer scenario is the number of offers that have been submitted to the seller, whether any of the buyers are represented by the same brokerage that is listing the property and whether the listing brokerage has a commission agreement with the seller that may give its buyers an advantage. You won’t know the substance of the offers you’re up against; only the seller and their real estate representative see those details. If you choose to participate, you basically need to make your best offer and hope for the best.” from  What’s your advice on how to approach a bidding war? – RECO Website