A ‘bully offer’ simply means a buyer submits an offer to a seller for a home listed prior to the date indicated when the seller is looking for an offer. In a market like Toronto where there are more buyers than there are homes for sale, sellers may choose to list their home first and then choose a date at which time they’ll review offers submitted.

For sellers who’ve priced their home accurately to the real estate market around them, this is a smart move because it lets more buyers see the home in the hopes that it’ll lead to a bidding war between them, thereby driving up the final selling price.

For buyers who don’t want a bidding war on a property they really like, they may respond to this tactic with a bully offer.

A bully offer is a high-pressure sales tactic meant to overwhelm the seller, getting them to consider a buyer’s offer quickly and react under a given time frame without notifying interested buyers and without engaging in any sort of bidding war. Now, a seller is under no obligation to accept a bully offer. If a buyer chooses to move forward with a bully offer, there’s some risk involved. There’s evidently some good and bad to these sorts of offers.

The Good

For a seller, bully offers tend to be quite lucrative and above asking. If the real estate you’re selling is in a high-price market like Toronto, when showings are slow, when the offer is firm, and when there’s not a lot of other interest in the property, accepting a bully offer can help in making a quick, easy sale.

If you’re a buyer preparing to make a bully offer, if you sweeten the deal just right, you may be able to close the sale without having to compete with others to get it.

The Bad

For a buyer, if you want to entice the seller enough to give you the sale on a bully offer, you oftentimes may need to submit an offer with little or no conditions.

For a seller, accepting a bully offer means you don’t get the chance to negotiate with other interested buyers. Also, always be sure to research the value of your property and neighborhood to ensure you’re not getting a bad offer.

If you’re looking to present a bully offer, keep in mind the risks involved. They don’t always work out and when they don’t, a buyer can turn off a seller with this high-pressure sales strategy.