Real estate auction platform comes to Sudbury

Unreserved is a real estate auction platform that has come to Sudbury.

The company first launched in Ottawa in the summer of 2021 and has been seeing great success having sold 170 houses so far.

"We’re an open bidding platform, right, where you know the traditional model everything is blind, no one's allowed to tell you what the competing offers are. And we said 'if we build something from a buyer's perspective, sellers naturally are going to be the beneficiaries,' and buyers are really gravitating toward this transparent model. So sellers are getting the results they want, but buyers appreciate the fairness. We can’t do anything about a hot real estate market, but what we can do is make it extremely fair," said Ryan O’Connor, the founder of Unreserved.

How it works is interested buyers are able to see the properties in person or virtually before placing a bid.

Once they decide to do so, they must be pre-approved for a mortgage and can place either a one-time bid or set a maximum bid using the auto-bid function.

All of Unreserved's listings have home inspections completed before even being listed.

"So the buyers are educated. They actually get to see that on the actual listing before they decide if they want to bid or not. We also put comparable listings to give the buyers an idea of what that home is going to sell for, so everything’s there for them," said Didi Henri, Unreserved's lead property expert for Sudbury.

Photo: Unreserved.com

Local real estate agent Tristan Ritchie, of Lake City Realty, said it's an option for people and he believes there’s enough business out there for everyone.

"You can list privately. You can list with Property Guys-type, where it’s a set fee or whatever, and there’s always been those options and they do get listings. And as a realtor, we are the people where if you want a consistent, and you know it's been around forever and you know it’s the most consistent, we’re regulated, we all have insurance, we all have fiduciary duties --  so if that’s what you want, likely get as much as you want route, we’re that route. But some people like to go a little bit more 'techie.' They want to try this new auction style and honestly, it's all up to you. It's just, you get a licensed professional in real estate and there you're getting something that hasn’t really been proven in Sudbury yet," Ritchie said.

He said he has been a realtor for the last seven years and has seen a flat, expanded and now downward market. Ritchie understands that buyers have been frustrated with the market recently but he says things are changing.

"It's actually already getting better. Its been about three weeks to a month where we are seeing more listings hit the market. The buyers are not as, they’re not jumping on everything the second it hits the market like they were in January, February," he said.

Adding, the average price is dropping and agents are seeing fewer showings.

Meantime, at the beginning of March, the Ontario Real Estate Association sent a letter to Minister Ross Romano about its concerns when it comes to auctioneer exemptions.

"Eliminating the outdated exemption for auctioneers would ensure that consumers who use an auction to sell or to buy property are protected. Owners of real estate auction companies would have to become registered with the Real Estate Council of Ontario and adhere to all the levels of consumer protection that are in place to protect someone’s largest investment – their home," said Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association.

Unreserved's first listing in Sudbury is at 1309 Holland Road with a starting price of $399,000. It is live online and the auction begins April 27 at 2 p.m.