The word tender in real estate?

Question

I am looking at real estate in New Zealand, and in place of an asking price, it just says "tender." Any idea what this means?

Answer 1

Tender is a process of selling, calling for purchasers to make their best offers in writing for a property by a set date. Purchasers should obtain "Particulars and Conditions of Sale by Tender" from the Agent. A price for the property is not advertised, allowing the market to decide the value.

Tenders from buyers remain confidential until the closing date when the seller choses one offer as being the most favorable. The details of any tender (whether successful or unsuccessful) will not be divulged to any other tenderer or third party. But if your tender is successful, you are committed to buying the property and have a set amount of time to meet all of the sale conditions.

Tenders can be "open" (anyone can make an offer) or "closed" where only some prospects are invited to submit a tender (closed tenders are often used by Industry to obtain expressions of interest from a select group of suppliers).

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand forbids its Members from using qualifying words such as “open tender ” or “closed tender”. However, tenders can call for unconditional offers or allow buyers to put conditions into their offer.