Oct. 16, 2017 – You’ve got a great listing. It’s a hot property, reasonably priced, and you expect lots of interest in the home. The day after an open house, you get confirmation that you were right: Your seller has received three offers.

What happens now?

First, the best time to talk to the seller about multiple offers has already passed – when you took the listing. It’s a good tactic to address the possibility of multiple offers with your seller at the onset of the transaction, so that you and the seller have an idea how you’ll proceed if faced with more than one offer at the same time. Ultimately, however, the seller decides how to handle multiple offers – not the Realtor.

With three contracts in hand, is the seller obligated to go back and ask each buyer for their “highest and best” offer? The short answer is no – but the seller may still want to get the best price he can for his property.

In the three-offer scenario, for example, the seller is free to choose one of those offers and reject the others. There is no obligation to go back and ask for “highest and best” from each buyer. Additionally, the seller could decide to counter some – or even all – of those offers.

However, the seller doesn’t want to be under contract with three different buyers. To avoid this, the seller would want to reserve the right to choose only one of the accepted counteroffers. The seller could also go the somewhat traditional route: Go back to the buyers and ask them to submit their “highest and best” offer on the property by a certain deadline. The seller could then choose between the three “highest and best” offers.

The key to multiple offers is making sure the seller is informed and instructing you how to proceed – never assume that a seller wants to proceed a certain way.

Since each real estate transaction is unique, there is no standard way to handle multiple offers. Sellers faced with legal questions regarding the process should consult their attorney.

Source: Florida Realtors