“Back to the drawing board,” Hazen says. “There are no slam dunks.”
Agents are not necessarily required by law to disclose when their listings get two or more written offers. But a National Association of REALTORS® code of ethics states that agents must make the disclosure if the buyer asks.
In most cases, the listing agent will collect the offers, announce there are competing bids and have everyone come back with their “highest and best offers” so the seller can pick one.
But some agents and sellers take a different approach.
They’ll negotiate individually with the buyers, making different counteroffers to each, even though they ultimately can sign only one contract.
Playing one offer against the other usually pushes the price higher and allows sellers to assess the motivation and financial strength of all the buyers, Corbett says.