What wins a BC bidding war isn't always the highest price. Coquitlam REALTOR® Craig Johnston on relationships, the right questions, dates and how an offer is presented.tivation, the listing strategy, and the true market value. This page breaks down the tactics that actually work in a BC bidding war, and the ones that cost buyers five or six figures in post-closing regret.
Craig represents buyers in multiple-offer situations across Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam. Every tactic below works within the BC Financial Services Authority's rules and guidance on presenting and disclosing competing offers.
Quick Answer
What should you know about Bidding Wars in BC?
What wins a BC bidding war isn't always the highest price. Coquitlam REALTOR® Craig Johnston on relationships, the right questions, dates and how an offer is presented.tivation, the listing strategy, and the true market value. Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
Winning a multiple-offer situation in BC comes down to how well your REALTOR® builds a relationship with the listing agent, asks the right questions, listens, and then delivers an offer the listing agent can show their seller is the best one on the table. It is not always the highest price, but you have to be close. After price, the terms that usually decide it are the dates (completion and possession that fit the seller's next move), how clean your subjects are, and a deposit that shows you are committed. I have won multiple-offer situations on dates, not price.
Every situation is different. I love to negotiate, and I have a winning track record in multiple-offer situations. If you’re facing one, reach out and I’ll walk you through my process.
Every figure on this page is drawn from primary BC and federal sources listed below. For a live, government-maintained version of each rule, click through — the internet can drift, the official source is always authoritative.
| Factor | How sellers tend to see it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Has to be close to the top offer | A lower offer can win only if it is close and the rest of the package is stronger |
| Dates (completion and possession) | Often the deciding term | A seller buying their next home needs dates that line up with that purchase |
| Subjects | Fewer and shorter is stronger | A collapsed deal can cost a seller weeks and their own next purchase |
| Deposit | A signal of commitment | A meaningful deposit, paid promptly, tells the seller you intend to close |
| How the offer is presented | Easy to overlook, often decisive | A buyer’s agent who has built trust with the listing agent and listened to what the seller needs can present the offer as the best one, even when it is not the highest |
| Personal letter | Rarely helps | Can raise human-rights and privacy concerns, so many listing agents advise against them |
Winning a bidding war comes down to how good your REALTOR® is at building relationships, asking the right questions, listening, and delivering an offer the listing agent can showcase as the best offer. It’s not always price, but you’ve got to be close. We’ve won on dates.
— Craig Johnston, REALTOR® · Royal LePage Elite West · Tri-Cities resident 47+ years
I love to negotiate, and I have a winning track record in multiple-offer situations across the Tri-Cities. Want to know how I’d approach yours? Reach out and I’ll share my process in a 20-minute strategy call.
| Rule or guidance | What it means for you as a buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| All written offers go to the seller | Unless the seller has given written instructions not to present certain types of offers, every written offer made before acceptance is presented. | BCFSA practice guidance on offers |
| The seller hears how many offers there are first | The listing agent tells the seller how many offers there are before presenting any of them, and normally lets the other agents know there are competing offers. | BCFSA practice guidance on offers |
| Your terms stay private only with the seller's say-so | The listing agent can't share your terms without the seller's consent, but the seller can give that consent. A clause in your offer can't stop it. | BCFSA practice guidance; BCFSA '3 myths' |
| One counter-offer at a time | BCFSA recommends countering only one offer at a time, so you may not get a second round. | BCFSA practice guidance on offers |
| Home Buyer Rescission Period | 3 business days after acceptance, by written notice, with a fee of 0.25% of the price. It can't be waived. Leasehold, leased land, auction and court-ordered sales are excluded. | BCFSA Home Buyer Rescission Period |
Sources: bcfsa.ca practice resources (Offers), '3 myths about making an offer and the reality', and Home Buyer Rescission Period, all BC Financial Services Authority.
BC's offer rules are the same everywhere, from Vancouver to the Fraser Valley. What changes from city to city is how much competition you're likely to meet. Here's how the Tri-Cities compare in August 2026.
Townhouses had the strongest sales-to-active ratio at 18.1% (benchmark $987,900). Detached homes were at 9.1% and apartments at 10.1%. Expect competing offers mainly on well-priced townhomes and standout detached homes, rather than across the board.
Apartments ran at 22.4% and townhouses at 18.6%, against 7.9% for detached homes. If you're shopping for a Port Moody condo, have your strata documents reviewed and financing firm before offer day.
Townhouses were at 21.0% and apartments at 19.8%, with lower benchmarks than Coquitlam ($847,200 for townhouses). Value-focused buyers cluster here, so entry-level homes priced right can draw several offers.
Few homes sell here in any month (Anmore detached sales in August 2026: 1), and every property is different. Competing offers are less about the market's pace and more about one particular home. Your price limit has to rest on carefully chosen comparable sales.
Under BCFSA rules, the listing agent can disclose the number of competing offers but cannot disclose the price or terms of a competing offer without the offering party's written consent. Some sellers instruct their agents to share numbers to drive prices higher; this is legal if both sides have consented.
A subject-free offer has no conditions — no financing subject, no inspection subject, no strata review subject. The offer is binding on acceptance, subject only to the 3-day HBRP. Sellers often prefer an offer with no subjects because a deal that collapses on a subject can cost them weeks and their own next purchase.
Complete a pre-offer inspection, get a firm mortgage commitment to the specific address, and have a strata lawyer review the Form B and minutes. Ask your reviewer how quickly they can turn it around before offer day. Without all three, subject-free is gambling.
Yes — an unaccepted offer can be revoked at any time in writing before the seller delivers signed acceptance. Once the seller signs back or accepts, the offer becomes a contract and the 3-day HBRP applies.
The listing agent specifies a future date (typically 5–10 days after the home hits MLS) on which all offers will be reviewed simultaneously. This creates controlled competition. Expect multiple offers — the strategy is designed for it.
No. The HBRP gives you 3 business days to back out for a 0.25% fee — but it does not unwind subject-free commitments, does not pay for an inspection you could have done in advance, and does not cover financing that is not yet firm. It is a safety net, not a strategy.
The BC norm is 5% — $60,000 on a $1.2M home. In a multiple-offer context, going above 5% can strengthen the offer; going below often looks soft. Deposit is refundable if subjects are not removed, fully at risk once subjects are removed.
Yes, and in Coquitlam's competitive stretches (Burke Mountain, Westwood Plateau turnkey, Heritage Mountain waterfront) over-list is routine. Your realtor should run comparable pricing to validate that the number you are writing reflects actual market value, not panic.
If the contract had subjects and you cannot remove them in good faith, the deal dies and your deposit is returned. If you went subject-free and cannot complete (e.g., financing falls through after HBRP), the seller can sue for damages — typically the gap between your price and the resale price, plus carrying costs.
BCFSA-licensed REALTOR® (V99960). 47+ years Tri-Cities. Top 2% Team — Royal LePage nationwide, 2023–2025. Specialist in Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam transactions across resale, new construction, and strata. The same rules above apply on every single deal — the difference is having someone who's done them hundreds of times in your corner.
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“One of the sales was my Mom’s home. She is 97 and so this was a very emotional issue to be leaving her beloved home of so many years… Craig was extremely patient in explaining the market and was very sensitive to her concerns. We can’t thank him enough for his empathy and understanding in working with an elderly person through a difficult time in a very caring manor!”Ann English
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