Does online property bidding “gamify” buying a home?
Ireland’s Housing Minister has ordered a review of online property bidding platforms following concerns about the “gamification” of the property-buying process.
Ireland has seen a good few of these emerge in recent years, including Beagel, Offr, MyHomeOffers and others, so I’m interested in how people working in real-estate technology see it.
Online systems can show current offers, notify buyers when they’re outbid and allow offers outside traditional office hours. The underlying competitive bidding process already existed through estate agents, phone calls and email, so what specifically crosses the line into “gamification”?
Displaying the current highest offer? Outbid notifications? 24/7 availability? Countdowns or urgency mechanisms? Interface design? Or simply making an existing bidding process more visible?
And is there evidence that online bidding changes the price buyers ultimately pay compared with agent-managed bidding?
Do you agree with the Irish Minister?
Article is at https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41916391.html for the curious.