How to Handle Multiple Offers on Your Canterbury Property

Receiving multiple offers on your Canterbury property is the outcome every vendor hopes for. It creates competition that can significantly improve your final sale price. However, it also requires careful management to ensure you maximise the outcome and act within your legal obligations.

What Your Agent Must Do

Your real estate agent has specific obligations when multiple offers exist. They must tell each buyer that there are other offers on the table (they are legally required to disclose the existence of competing offers, though not their details). They must present all offers to you - they cannot cherry-pick which offers to show you. The Real Estate Authority's guidance is clear that agents must act in the vendor's best interests, and this includes ensuring all offers are properly communicated.

Running a Multi-Offer Round

The most common approach when multiple offers are received is to advise all buyers that there are competing offers and invite them to submit their best and final offer by a specified time. This approach extracts maximum value from each buyer without extended back-and-forth negotiation. Buyers in a multi-offer situation know they may not get a second chance to improve their position, which typically produces higher offers than sequential one-to-one negotiation. Your agent informs each buyer about the process - that there are other offers and they should submit their best terms. You then review all offers simultaneously.

How to Evaluate Competing Offers

Price is the most obvious factor but not the only one. When comparing offers, also consider: the conditions in each offer (fewer conditions and shorter condition timeframes are better for vendors); the settlement date (does it suit your own timeline for moving or purchasing your next property); the deposit amount (a higher deposit provides more protection if the buyer cannot settle); the financial strength of the buyer (is their finance pre-approved or speculative); and whether the buyer has made contact expressing genuine commitment. A slightly lower price with clean conditions and a suitable settlement date is often preferable to the highest price with multiple conditions and a problematic timeline.

Counter-Offer Strategy

If no single offer meets your expectations, you can counter one or more offers. However, you can only have one counter-offer open at a time - you cannot simultaneously negotiate with multiple buyers. Your agent advises you on the appropriate strategy based on the quality and content of the offers received.

Information from the Real Estate Authority (REA), Settled.govt.nz, and Price My Property NZ. For general information only - always obtain independent legal advice.