Offer Dates: How Holding Offers Works for Sellers

An offer date asks buyers to send in their offers by a set day and time, so you can compare them all at once. Here is how holding offers works for BC sellers, from setting the date to early offers, competing bids and a date that passes without an offer.

The short version

Why sellers set an offer date

BCFSA, the provincial regulator, puts the choice simply: some sellers let buyers submit offers whenever they want, and others ask for offers on a set date and time so they can all be considered at once. An offer date can help in three ways:

• Time for buyers. Buyers can view the home, talk to their lender and, if you allow it, inspect before they write, so their offers can carry fewer conditions.
• A fair comparison. You see every offer at once and can weigh price, deposit, conditions and dates side by side.
• Competition. Buyers compete at the same moment, and BCFSA notes they are typically told how many others they are up against.

It works best when you expect strong interest. In a slower market, buyers have other choices and may not wait, so taking offers as they come can suit you better.

How an offer date is set

The Lower Mainland's real estate boards have rules for this. You sign a form called the Direction Regarding Presentation of Offers, your listing's public and REALTOR® remarks say "No presentation of offers until" your chosen date and time, and your agent posts the form to the MLS® System within 24 hours.

• You can change your mind. From 2022, the boards used an irrevocable version of the form. BCFSA was concerned that it might not serve sellers whose plans or market changed, and that it could conflict with an agent's duty to follow a client's lawful instructions. Since March 17, 2025, you can change your direction by signing a revised form.
• A record of interest. Your agent keeps track of the buyers' agents who asked for or held a showing, asked to present an offer, or asked in writing to be kept informed.

Before the date, decide how much buyers can do in advance. BCFSA suggests buyers ask to inspect before writing an offer and, for a condo or townhouse, to see the strata documents first. Having them ready helps buyers write firm offers.

Early offers

Some buyers try to get ahead of the date with a pre-emptive offer, which BCFSA calls a bully offer: one that expires before the date and time you set. Submitting or accepting one isn't illegal, but there are risks. Your agent must promptly give you all offers unless you have instructed otherwise, so when one arrives, your agent will tell you and ask how you want to proceed.

• Let it expire. Keep to your date. The buyer can offer again with everyone else.
• Consider it early. You sign a revised form, your agent updates the listing and notifies every buyers' agent on the record, and those agents get an equal chance to present their own offers at the same time, where possible.

BCFSA warns that a seller who accepts early may receive less than by waiting. Ask your agent whether other buyers plan to offer on the date, and agree in advance how you would treat a strong early offer.

When the offers arrive

Your agent first tells you how many offers there are, and you go through each one line by line. Price matters, but so do the deposit, the conditions and the dates. Your options:

• Accept one. Signing an offer without changes creates a binding contract, subject to its conditions and the buyer's rescission right.
• Counter one. Any change is a rejection and a new offer, and you can't go back to the original. BCFSA recommends countering only one offer at a time, since countering several is a potential source of lawsuits, and giving a specific time for acceptance.
• Invite everyone to improve. You can decline all the offers and give every buyer the chance to submit a new one by a set time. BCFSA advises extreme care when several offers over the list price arrive soon after listing, and warns that some or all of the buyers may not offer again.
• Decline them all. You never have to accept an offer, even at your full asking price. An offer whose deadline passes is treated as rejected.

One caution: some listing agreements make commission payable if you receive a full-price offer, even if you don't accept it. Check yours before your offer date.

What your agent can and can't share

• Offer terms stay private unless you agree. BCFSA's guidance is that your agent may not disclose the terms of one buyer's offer to another buyer without your prior consent, preferably in writing. If you have agreed with a buyer to keep their price and terms confidential, nothing may be shared.
• You can choose to share some information. Sellers can instruct their agent to share information from one offer with other buyers, so buyers may learn how many bids came in and the highest price. A "don't tell" clause doesn't bind you unless you accept that offer.
• No one may lie. You don't have to say there are other offers, but you can't invent or misstate them. You can answer truthfully, or decline to share.
• Buyers get a summary. Since July 2023, the Lower Mainland boards have required a Disclosure of Multiple Offers Presented form whenever two or more offers are presented together. You sign it once you decide, and within one calendar day every buyer who offered gets a copy listing each offer's date and brokerage, without prices or terms.

From November 2025 to January 2026, BCFSA consulted on new disclosures in multiple-offer situations. Its June 2026 summary of the feedback says it would consult formally before changing the Rules. For the buyer's side, including "beat the highest offer" terms, read Multiple Offers in Metro Vancouver.

Subject-free offers and deposits

Some buyers write subject-free offers, with no conditions for financing or inspection, to stand out. BCFSA notes there can be risks in accepting one and suggests getting legal advice. Weigh these points:

• The buyer can still rescind. The three-business-day rescission period can't be waived, so in most home sales a buyer can cancel even after you accept a subject-free offer, by paying you 0.25% of the price, taken from the deposit if a brokerage holds it.
• The deposit. When it is due is negotiable, usually on acceptance or on subject removal. BCFSA says 5% to 10% of the price is typical, though any amount can be agreed. The buyer's brokerage usually holds it in trust as a stakeholder and, apart from a rescission, releases it only when both sides agree or a court decides.
• Conditions can still compete. An offer with one short, clear condition and a solid deposit may be as attractive as a subject-free one. You can also ask for a clause that lets you require the buyer to remove all conditions within a set time if another attractive offer comes in.

If no offers come in

A quiet offer date still tells you something. Because your direction can be changed, you can sign a revised form and take offers at any time. Then look at why:

• Showings and feedback. Did buyers come through, and what did their agents say about the price and the home?
• The price. Compare it with recent sales and the homes you are competing with, as I explain in How Your List Price Is Set.
• A price set to start a bidding war. BCFSA warns that a home priced below market value may still get only offers below the list price, and buyers who feel misled may not rewrite them. Raising the price or relisting higher then takes time and paperwork, and buyers may wonder what is wrong with the home.

The simplest protection is a list price you would be content to accept.

Questions sellers often ask me

Do I have to wait until my offer date to look at offers?

No. Since March 2025, your direction can be changed. You sign a revised form, and buyers' agents who have shown interest are notified and given an equal chance to present at the same time, where possible.

Will other buyers see the offers I receive?

Not the prices or terms, unless you agree. When two or more offers are presented together, every buyer who offered later gets a copy of a form you sign listing each offer's date and brokerage. No one may lie about competing offers.

Do I have to accept the highest offer?

No. You never have to accept an offer, even at full asking price, and deposits, conditions and dates count as well as price. Check whether your listing agreement makes commission payable on a full-price offer you decline.

Is a subject-free offer always the best one?

Not always. In most home sales the buyer can still rescind within three business days by paying you 0.25% of the price, so compare the deposit and how well prepared the buyer is, too.

What happens if no one makes an offer on my offer date?

You can sign a revised form and accept offers at any time. Then review the showings, the feedback and your price against recent sales, and decide whether the price or the presentation needs to change.

Getting ready to list? Read the BC selling process from listing to completion and my seller's checklist, or see recent sales on my market trends page.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It reflects BCFSA's guidance and the Lower Mainland boards' offer presentation rules at the time of writing, so ask your agent how they apply to your listing. For BCFSA's guide, see What is a Bully Offer?