Does the Listing Agent Need to Disclose if There are Multiple Offers?

I've had this issue come up when working with home buyers in a hot, hot buyer's market and was told by my legal team it's 100% up to the seller to disclose if there are multiple offers, or not. Austin, Texas must be a hot, hot market right now. 

In Tennessee, it's all up to the seller. He can choose not to disclose to any, he can choose to disclose to one or he can choose to disclose to all. There isn't any law that requires he disclose to all. It's his choice. While it may seem in the best interest of the seller to disclose multiple offers, some buyers will walk away when given this information. I explain the pros and cons of disclosing multiple offers to buyers and let the sellers decide whether or not to disclose. If they decide not to disclose, then I advise buyer's agents that we expect multiple offers and they may want to make their first offer their best. Without actually telling them if other offers have been received.

I agree its a little bit of a mess but also agree if its fair across the board then so be it.

You don't need to disclose unless a seller tells you to do so, but if you disclose to one, you must disclose to all.

NAR

• Standard of Practice 1-15

REALTORS®, in response to inquiries from buyers or cooperating brokers shall, with the sellers’ approval, disclose the existence of offers on the property. Where disclosure is authorized, REALTORS® shall also disclose, if asked, whether offers were obtained by the listing licensee, another licensee in the listing firm, or by a cooperating broker. 

aw DONNA HARRIS,

that is a little mess there, well we all go for experiences that somewhat we can never forget but we can always learn from it.

have a great day to you.

Hi, Donna:  Same would apply here- and as long as one applies the "fairness to all" policy (that existed long before the Code of Ethics, you know?), things should be fine in the end.  I say "fine"- but I've had similar "multiple offer" scenarios in the property management world that leave things "fine" for everyone except the greedy ol' real estate guy (guess that's me in these cases).

There are varying schools of thought in our "multiples" cases, though.  Our Orlando market continues to be smoking hot rentals-wise, with my main problek being how to get more inventory for the tonsnof folks seeking places- having 60,000 students here at UCF (America's largest university, by the way) goes from blessing to curse in short order- and that plus others moving here equals a great need for rental properties.

That said, all or most companies will explicitly state on their applications that they may accept multiple applications at once and process them in order to allow for the greatest opportunity of securing the best folks possible who'll be our next new tenants.

But how do you approach that when showing a property or handling a phone call for a property which has an application in progress?  YESSSSSS... there's where things get a bit tough.

Do you tell everyone that there's an application "being processed"?  Doing so leads to the risk folks will say "never mind" and move on thinking the existing application will be approved- only to have that existing application turn into a craplication and set you back to Square One.

Not telling folks that there's an existing application in progress (other than in writing that it's a possibility) can lead to frustration from "Applicant #2" that loses out to a solid applicant whose application processing was nearly complete before "Applicant #2" ever viewed the property.  Hassle likely ensues and the possibility you'll be unfairly blown up on social media is a legitimate concern- and next up is a decison on whether to refund anyone's application fees... ugh!

So I feel your pain (in smaller measure) in "selling" homes without being paid- for I've had more than my share of instances where I've had homes "rented" numerous times before anyone ever really moved in!

There is no obligation to conduct multiple offer bidding. Also, highest offer is not always best offer.