Competing offers occur when two or more buyers submit written offers on the same property at the same time. In Ontario, specific rules govern how this process unfolds, including what information must be disclosed and what the seller is permitted to share with buyers.
The seller's real estate agent is required to disclose the number of competing offers to all buyers who have submitted a written offer. This has long been a baseline requirement under Ontario's real estate regulations, and it remains in effect under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA), which replaced the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act on December 1, 2023. In a competing offer situation, three disclosures are required: the number of offers that have been submitted, whether any of the buyers are represented by the same brokerage as the seller, and whether the seller's brokerage has an agreement to reduce their commission for buyers represented by a certain brokerage.
TRESA changed the type of information that could be shared during a multiple offer. Blind bidding is still permissible, but a seller can now choose to disclose the contents of the offers to the other bidders, provided that they give the same information to every person who has submitted a valid offer. Personal information or any information that would identify the person making an offer must not be shared. Without the seller's written direction, the seller's agent is prohibited from sharing the content of offers. In practice, the seller decides whether to keep things confidential, share only select details like the highest price or closing dates, or open up most of the offer terms.
The seller can change their direction to the real estate agent at any time. This means a process that starts as a traditional closed bidding situation could shift to partial or full transparency mid-negotiation. Buyers can include language in their offer that renders it null and void if the process is changed from closed to open bidding, though doing so carries the risk of having the offer withdrawn unexpectedly.
The decisions about how offers are presented and responded to, as well as which offer is accepted, are made by the seller. The seller is not obligated to accept the highest offer, or any offer at all. Factors like closing date flexibility, the size of the deposit, and whether the offer includes conditions all play a role. In a competing offer situation, buyers may be tempted to offer more for the property than they planned to and to remove conditions from offers that are intended to protect them. Having a clear maximum price in mind before offer night helps prevent decisions driven by pressure rather than sound financial planning. For more on what it means to submit an offer without conditions, see What Is a Firm Offer in Ontario Real Estate?
