Real Estate Talk:
The multiple offer process

How a broker deals with more than one offer on a property

By Joseph Marovitch

April 17, 2025

During the pandemic, demand was high, and the supply of homes was not. This was due to sellers protecting themselves from infection by not listing and therefore not having strangers enter the property and possibly spreading infection. With high demand and low inventory, the situation created record multiple offers. Each property at the time, once listed, would receive 15 to 20 offers. This was an unusual time in the housing market as it is rare to have such high demand and low inventory.

A multiple offer is a situation in which a listed property would receive more than one offer at the same time, thereby causing a bidding war.

In a normal market, multiple offers do arise for several reasons, such as:

• High demand and low inventory due to the economy and/or low interest rates
• A thriving economy where buyers have more disposable income
• A particularly beautiful home in a sought-after location
• Competitively priced property

The process for the buyer is to submit a promise to purchase to the seller, at which point, the listing broker (the broker representing the seller) will contact all other interested parties who either inquired or visited, to let them know there is an offer on the table. The broker will indicate that the seller will respond within a specific deadline and that if other buyers want to submit an offer before the seller responds, to do so asap.

A multiple offer is a situation in which a listed property would receive more than one offer at the same time, thereby causing a bidding war.

If other buyers submit offers, the listing broker will then contact all interested parties, including the first buyer who presented an offer, and indicate there is now a second offer on the table and ask if any buyer wishes to enhance their offer in terms of price and/or conditions. It is the responsibility of the listing broker to generate as much interest as possible and acquire the best possible price and terms for their client, the seller.

Following the listing broker’s message, all interested buyers, including those that submitted an offer, must decide whether they will increase the price and/or adjust the conditions, such as examination of documents, inspection, financing, possession date, signing date or other, or cancel their offer to avoid the competition.

Once the deadline to submit offers expires, the seller must choose which offer they will accept. To make the decision, the buyer will consider the offer price, the conditions of the offer, the possession date, if a pre-approval was submitted with the offer, if the buyer must sell before purchasing and so on.

Note that price is not the only factor the seller considers. For example:

• An offer can have a higher price but no pre-approval. This creates a risk to the seller that funds will not be available.
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• An offer conditional upon the buyer selling their first property can cause delays and deter other visits and offers.
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• An offer that has inclusions that are not in the listing can cause hesitation.
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• An offer with long delays in the conditions can increase the risk of the buyer cancelling the offer.

The buyer will choose the offer with the best price and terms and the lowest risk to ensure the sale goes to the notary.

The easier the offer is to the seller, the more appealing the offer is. However, it is not wise to skip conditions such as inspection or examination of documents. The best way to compete in a multiple offer scenario is to increase the offer amount and keep the deadlines for conditions as short as possible. Some conditions are not flexible, such as financing and signing. The bank and notary do require a certain amount of time to do their part, unless the offer is an all-cash deal.

‘The buyer will choose the offer with the best price and terms and the lowest risk to ensure the sale goes to the notary.’

Once the seller accepts an offer, other buyers have the option to submit a second-tier offer, conditional upon the first offer failing or just wait and see. If the house is what the buyer wants, it is advisable to submit a second-tier offer. Otherwise, that buyer will have to wait until all other accepted offers are completed.

Once a conditional offer is accepted by the seller, the broker will place on Centris that an offer is accepted and the deadline for that offer’s conditions to expire. If the offer is successful, the sale is complete. If the offer fails, then the seller will move on to the second-tier offer. The process will continue until an offer is successful.

Should you have questions or comments, please refer to the comments section at the bottom of the page. As well, to view past articles, click here.

Next article: The broker’s protection after expiration of the contract and why

State of the market

According to a recent RBC Economics report by Robert Hogue, dated April 15, 2025, an economic fallout from tariff concerns has shaken confidence in Canadian buyers who have delayed their search for property. The result is that resales have decreased by 12% across Canada last month. However, the supply of new listings has increased, reaching a five-year high.

Noted in the Canadian Press on April 15, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has downgraded its forecast for home sales as sales decreased by 9.3% in March. CREA representatives stated that market concerns were all about tariffs; however, now the concern is the actual economic fallout of the tariffs. According to CREA, the real estate market has gone from months of improvement to treading water now with a wait-and-see attitude. CREA further stated that the expectation is that property values will decrease in the second quarter of 2025.

‘With buyers hesitant to enter the market (low demand) and supply increasing as sellers want out before the fallout of a trade war, real estate has fully entered a buyer’s market.’

With buyers hesitant to enter the market (low demand) and supply increasing as sellers want out before the fallout of a trade war, real estate has fully entered a buyer’s market.

If sellers wish to sell in this market, strategic pricing and marketing are paramount to acquire the best price and terms. Otherwise, sellers are competing with many other properties, and the ball is in the buyer’s court. As a seller, offer an incentive to bring as many buyers and offers as possible. As stated earlier, this requires highly strategic pricing and targeted marketing.

Have a great week.

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