Do Sellers Have To Disclose Terms Of Other Offers?
So you are in the middle of selling your home and everything is going well. At first there was only tentative interest by a large number of people. However, it has now been just a little over one month and now there are several people who have serious interest in buying your home. Right now you are in a great position as you now find yourself in an optimum situation. The market value of your home has increased, as there is now much more demand for your home than there is supply. From this vantage point you may even find yourself as the recipient of a bidding war among interested homebuyers. However, one potential homebuyer has asked about the specifics of an offer to buy your home from another interested homebuyer. So what do you do in this situation? The question is basically: do sellers have to disclose the terms of other offers?
The Answer
The answer is simple: No. Prospective buyers do not have the legal right to learn about the offers that other buyers have given to the person selling their home. Conversely, home sellers are not legally obliged to disclose the terms of offers given by prospective buyers to another prospective buyer. The reason for this is because the housing market should operate as a free market. Consequently, home sellers have the right to try to increase the sale price of their home by playing prospective buyers off each other. However, homebuyers also have the right to pull out any offers that they put forward. Therefore selling your home can be a volatile situation making each sale of a home unique, much like snowflakes.
By not disclosing the terms of other offers, the individual selling their home is able to ascertain unbiased values given to their home from potential customers. However, by revealing the terms of other offers, the home seller may increase the sale price of their home by creating a miniature price war among potential homebuyers.
