One of the greatest legal minds in real estate was Oliver Frascona.
When it came time to take continuing education classes, you wanted to take them from Oliver. He was one of the biggest personalities I've ever met, and he was responsible for writing much of our Colorado real estate law.
He could explain the most complicated or boring points in such a way that not only made them fascinating, but he simplified them so you were able to grasp and remember the concept.
He had a knack of focusing on the person he was speaking with and making them feel as though their question was the most important one he'd heard all day, and he was always gracious to answer.
When Oliver died in a plane crash in 2014, I grieved his loss by reading many of his writings and watching videos and interviews. I came across a video of him addressing Realtor Myths.
The first thing he focused on was something that we as Realtors learned in Real Estate 101 and hold near and dear to our misguided hearts: that you can't tell Buyer's Agents, or anyone else for that matter, what the amount of another offer is.
Here was Oliver's observation on the subject:
. . . there's this myth that a Listing broker can't tell a subsequent Buyer's side what the current offer amounts are. Of course they can, they just have to ask their Seller if it's okay. But each of those Buyer's offers aren't confidential and you can't make them confidential. And if you're really helping that Seller, you should be turning to that Buyer and saying, 'I have three at this price, and if you can beat it, then you're gonna to be the one who wins.'
In the current Seller's market when there are often multiple offers on a property the first day or two it's listed (under $300,000), Realtor's respond to me like I've grown another head when I ask them what kind of offer we need to bring to win the bid. It really isn't a crime to tell me, and I guarantee it won't cost you your license.
Bottom line: If we are truly working for our client, The Seller, we will get their permission to disclose to Buyer's Agents the amount of other offers to try to get the Seller the highest possible price for their home.
I actually wrote this post to send to the dozen local agents who have said, "How dare you for asking?" to me in the past few weeks. LOL Somewhere along the line we got this in our heads and few have been able to let go.
Thanks for your kind words. ~ Mimi
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