Yes it's common practice, yes it's allowed, no it's not 'shady'. This is a case where maybe a couple of grand would've gotten her the house if she really wanted it.

Is the process frustrating as hell for buyers? Yes.

This is the issue with the blind bidding process, it's a crapshoot, and it's a massive waste of time for many participants. However since it's allowed you'd be doing a disservice to your seller client by not playing the the game to get them top dollar if everyone else is doing it. Race to bottom in a way.

Sounds like it was a grossly underpriced property to get that many counters on a pre-emptive in a day. Crazy

Where does it end though?
Lets say my sister offered another $10k and outbid the previous high bidder, would they then go back to the other people and ask them to offer more to try and beat my sister?

It may be common practice but it seems like such a scumbag move, IMO of course.

I should've clarified, I was talking mostly detached 1.5m-2m range and some semis in the 1.3 range in 416.

Around 1M in 905 anywhere was the wild west, although I am seeing lots of offer dates flop in Markham and just relisting at some new ridiculous ask...some of it still selling.

Good kill with the bully on day -1. I think that's some solid service for your buyers since most see everything on day 0 and by then hustlers like you have had their way with the listing while everyone was sleeping

Some agents have been caught doing shady shit in the past, but generally you get one shot at improving your offer.

Your frustrations are warranted. There are some houses I don't bother bidding on if I know the agent because I know my client will have no chance of getting it unless they severely overpay (local agents who know the ones that do this will avoid bidding on them also). In my local market if I see certain names I avoid the listing, if the offer date flops because they got greedy I will kick the can a day or two after when they've been humbled. Doesn't always work, but some agents are known to push the boundaries. Fuck that.

Where does it end though?
Lets say my sister offered another $10k and outbid the previous high bidder, would they then go back to the other people and ask them to offer more to try and beat my sister?

It may be common practice but it seems like such a scumbag move, IMO of course.

There's also the off chance your offer could be the highest one and the agent is trying to squeeze more out of you.

That was the first thing I thought when my sister called me TBH.

But then what happens when you are the highest and tell them to get fucked when they ask for more?
They call you an hour later like "Guess what! the other buyer backed out, it's yours for your original offer!"

Like if you're playing those games why not just hold a live auction on the front yard of the home?

Windsor still on fire eh? If she keeps losing offer nights, she should probably sit down w/ the realtor and ask wtf. Is she being mislead going to all these listings she can't afford from the start? The realtor should know wtf they are offering on. I get losing a few here and there, but more than that it's usually poorly managed expectations.

Went from 220km/h to 160km/h in a 100.

That's as best as I can explain it.

She's well east of Windsor, but I'm pretty sure Windsor proper is still going nuts.

I don't think she's bidding on listings she can't afford or being misled on, just shit luck i guess?
The last one we figured she was highest bidder and they came back asking for more.
This last one that went for 300k over at 1.1mill, there was 10 bids and she was number 2.

If highest bidder beats next person buy 100k I don't consider that not being able to afford the home, I think somebody wanted it very badly and was willing to go all in to guarantee victory. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

This is accurate LOL

London student house rental property next to Western. Listed today with offer date. First showing and clean offer LOL, but not at the price we want.

Shit be nuts yo!

wtf even with no students or are students still living within the school proximity despite studying 'from home'?

I don't mean to come off rude, it's just a pet peeve of mine because a lot of offers you see (majority actually) have no business being in the game. 2-3 are in the ballpark, the rest are the just dreamers. This is being on the listing side what I see.

But realistically what sets market value, these super high bids out of left field? Is that really market value when highest bid is 10% higher than the next closest? Are the homes really worth that? Are the buyers desperate and throwing everything they have at the bid? Are their agents misleading them?

Now I say good agent, because I really, really feel a small percentage of buying agents are scumbags and mislead their uninformed buyers.

I'm not saying this is always the case but I'm sure it happens, it happened to me when I bought my house.
Told the realtor I wanted to offer X amount below asking, she said no, that is way too low and is an insult. I'm like I don't give a fuck, present the number and give them the laundry list of shit wrong. They came back at only $5k above my offer. I said no and didn't even counter. My agent was like don't be silly, it's only another $5k on your mortgage over X amount of years. I told her to pay it then if it wasn't a lot. Sure enough next day they came back and said they'd take my original offer.

This type of ‘strategy’ only works in a buyer’s market, I am assuming you bought when the market wasn’t hot. I did the same thing as you 10 years ago, none of that shit is relevant today.

This would never work today and this is the rookie mistake a lot of people make listening to their parents (clients I have). For example if your sister is looking now, yet operating with feedback/advise from your experience 10 years ago, she is at odds because what you worked for you will not work for her now. Times have changed/market has changed. If she wants a house in this market, she will need to be more aggressive. If she can wait it out then do that and then your strategy will once again be relevant. Places like Windsor will get hit the hardest when the house of cards crumbles IMO.

I agree 100%. I wasn't so much promoting my strategy, but rather showing how agents can force a buyer to spend more just so that they can make a sale, regardless if it's a buyer or sellers market.

I've told my sister since day 1 (which is well over a year now), that she needs to be all in. She would budget around kitchen renovation or tearing a wall down. I've told her, you can't do that, somebody else will happily take the house as is and bid above you after you start deducting your renovation budget from the bid. She has finally realized that on the last couple attempts, but yeah, I guess now that you say it, her agent probably should have been making that clear to her.

Any chance the RE cartel will allow transparency to the whole bidding process (open bids)?

It's insane having to make the largest purchase of your life all based on the trust of another individual.

I agree 100%. I wasn't so much promoting my strategy, but rather showing how agents can force a buyer to spend more just so that they can make a sale, regardless if it's a buyer or sellers market.

I've told my sister since day 1 (which is well over a year now), that she needs to be all in. She would budget around kitchen renovation or tearing a wall down. I've told her, you can't do that, somebody else will happily take the house as is and bid above you after you start deducting your renovation budget from the bid. She has finally realized that on the last couple attempts, but yeah, I guess now that you say it, her agent probably should have been making that clear to her.

Any chance the RE cartel will allow transparency to the whole bidding process (open bids)?

It's insane having to make the largest purchase of your life all based on the trust of another individual.