Why Your Agent Can’t (or Won’t) Share Other Offers—and What That Means for You

Why Your Realtor Won’t Reveal Competing Offers—and What You Can Do Instead

Here’s what buyers need to know about offer transparency and how to stay competitive in the market.

Does location still matter most? Should you remodel your home to suit your tastes or for resale value? Are starter homes still a thing? We all have plenty of questions about the ever-changing world of real estate. In our Ask an Agent series, we’re partnering with experts at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate to answer your biggest questions about finding, buying, and selling a home.

If you’ve ever wished you could see what other buyers offered before making a bid on a home, you’re not alone. According to one realtor, it’s one of the most common questions he gets—and the answer might surprise you. Here’s why agents typically can’t disclose competing offers, and what smart buyers can do instead to stay competitive.

For this installment of Ask an Agent, we spoke with Terry Papp of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections to understand why your realtor won't tell you the number of other offers on a house.

Ask an Agent: Why Won’t My Realtor Tell Me the Other Offers on a House?

First of all, 99% of the time, we have no idea what the other offers are. The listing agent is not going to tip their hat and tell us about other offers. This is because they're protecting their seller's best interest, as that is their duty. By telling you what those other offers are, you're going to come in and know that maybe somebody low-balled, and then you're gonna lowball, too. It creates an unbalanced and unfair playing field, which is contrary to the principle that real estate is supposed to be a level playing field for all parties.

The listing agent represents the seller, and the buyer's agent represents the buyer. If the listing agent also represents the buyer, they are still wearing two separate hats. When they act as a listing agent, they wear that hat and must have the seller's best interests in mind. If they were to disclose the offers to the buyer, they would be unbalancing that scale and creating a disadvantage to one of the parties.

What Advice Would You Give a Buyer About Making a Good Offer?

A good agent will sit down with their buyers and show them a competitive market analysis, which outlines what homes in the area (especially those comparable in size, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and condition) have sold for and are currently listed for. You never want to pay more than the home is worth, obviously. The appraisal will also come into play—if you pay more than it is appraised for, a whole new negotiation between the buyer and the seller begins. Therefore, it's crucial to have a solid current market analysis to base the offer on.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.