[emiliobumachar]

How would you decide which hopeful customer gets it? A line? Draw sticks? Willingness to do chores for you? Ostensive praise?

If I really want the widged but really can't stand in line for long enough, is it okay to hire someone to wait in line for me? How about a programmer to make a bot to constantly refresh your website so that I don't have to? Two bots?

[ImPostingOnHN]

I would obviously demand prospective buyer couples engage in a team gauntlet against each other as part of a dystopian championship ladder for housing. Perhaps I'd integrate "ninja warrior" aspects to the challenge, culminating in a couple's cage match. Prospects would train for years to compete in my league: building themselves up; mentally preparing themselves; needing to be absolutely perfect to have any chance of winning. Losers would be banished from the neighborhood, perhaps even the city, forced to live on the outskirts.

Or maybe some economic analogue of all that.

Anyways, the allocation is a matter secondary to the price: the point is that I can find a buyer for the lower price, and there will always be prospective buyers who think any allocation scheme is unfair, especially when they're crushed beneath the matching Ugg boots of Jan and Pat, the couples doubles doomslayers.

[carlosjobim]

Since the conversation is real estate, it's not hard to decide to sell to a young person or couple from your own community that you know well, that went to school with your kids or works in the same place as you.

Or you can sell to the highest bidder, maybe a foreign investor.

[nonethewiser]

When you own a rental property you can do that, but if we're talking about people in general you have to assume they'll be rational.