An offer that goes out fast is not the same as one that holds up. Ten checks, in order, before you hit send — grounded in the current RECO Information Guide and RECO’s own bulletins, not habit.
Key takeaways
STEP 01 OF 10
Before you touch a template, know exactly who is on the other side of the table. The RECO Information Guide draws a hard line between a client — owed undivided loyalty, disclosure and confidentiality — and a self-represented party, to whom the opposite agent owes no advice, no opinions, and nothing that "would encourage [them] to rely on their knowledge, skill, or judgement." A self-represented party must be handed RECO’s Information and Disclosure to Self-represented Party form and walked through it before any assistance is given.
Since designated representation became available in Ontario on December 1, 2023, confirm which model your brokerage is using on this file — a single named agent as the client’s designated representative, or the whole brokerage. It changes who at your office is walled off from what, and it is worth writing on the file before the first showing, not after an offer is drafted.
STEP 02 OF 10
An irrevocable period is the window during which "the party who made the offer cannot legally revoke it," per treadstonelaw's explainer. Typical lengths vary by market pressure: as short as a few hours, or same-day, in a competitive multiple-offer situation, stretching to 24–72 hours or more where the other side genuinely needs time for legal review. Setting it too short on a complex file just manufactures a bully-offer problem for yourself later (Step 8).
Know what happens if it lapses: "the offer dies automatically" and the offering party is released — the other side cannot later purport to accept an expired offer to form a contract. Build your own follow-up reminder around that deadline, not around when you assume a reply will come.
STEP 03 OF 10
There is no statutory minimum deposit in Ontario — per treadstonelaw, resale deposits "commonly range from about 5% to 10% of the purchase price," which is market practice, not law. Write the actual dollar figure into the clause; do not leave it as a percentage the parties are expected to calculate later.
Word the timing clause around receipt, not initiation. treadstonelaw’s deposit-timing piece is explicit that meeting a deposit deadline means the funds are "actually received... by the specified time, not simply that you’ve initiated a transfer." A wire sent five minutes before the deadline that lands in the trust account the next morning is a late deposit under most drafting, with real consequences for your buyer.
STEP 04 OF 10
A condition "makes the deal binding only if — or until — a specified event happens," and per treadstonelaw it resolves exactly two ways: fulfilment (the condition was actually met) or waiver (the protected party gives up reliance on it, met or not). Both must be communicated in writing and delivered before the deadline — a verbal "we’re fine on financing" is neither.
The moment the last condition is waived or fulfilled, "the agreement becomes firm and binding, whether or not the underlying protection was ever actually confirmed" — a buyer who waives a financing condition is bound even if financing later falls through. Make sure your buyer actually understands that before they sign a waiver to keep pace with a deadline.
STEP 05 OF 10
Per treadstonelaw, a financing condition typically runs 3–5 business days, with buyers sometimes negotiating 7 or even 10 days for variable, self-employed or commissioned income, an unusual property, or a broker needing to shop multiple lenders. Confirm realistic timing with the lender before the number goes into the offer, not after.
A status certificate condition has no fixed typical length in the source material — what matters mechanically is that the clock should run from receipt of the certificate, not the date it was requested. Ontario’s Condominium Act separately gives the corporation up to ten days to produce one, per treadstonelaw, so a condition clocked from the request date can expire before the document even arrives — see the worked example below.
STEP 06 OF 10
Post-TRESA, a buyer’s brokerage fee is not automatically paid by the seller through an MLS co-operating commission — RECO Bulletin 6.2 explains that a brokerage cannot enter into any agreement with a self-represented seller to charge or collect remuneration for assistance, and a remuneration clause in the offer itself is what lets a seller compensate the buyer for their brokerage fees.
Your buyer representation agreement should already say what happens if the seller offers more than the buyer owes their brokerage, and what happens if the seller offers less — get both answers settled with your buyer before the remuneration clause goes into an actual offer, not while negotiating one.
STEP 07 OF 10
An escalation clause automatically increases a buyer’s price by a set increment above the highest verified competing offer, up to a stated cap. Per treadstonelaw, "there’s no law that prohibits a properly drafted escalation clause in an Ontario offer" — the friction is entirely practical.
The real risk: "many listing agents simply instruct sellers not to consider offers with escalation clauses" at all, and where one is considered, it discloses your buyer’s ceiling price upfront and invites disputes about what the "final" verified competing amount actually was. Tell your buyer this is a real possibility, not a guaranteed edge, before they lean on it.
STEP 08 OF 10
A pre-emptive offer arrives before a seller’s scheduled presentation date, "typically at a premium price and with a short irrevocability window," designed to force a decision before the field can compete. RECO Bulletin 4.3 confirms the seller’s representative must get specific written direction on how pre-emptive offers will be handled, and that "the law is clear that a seller’s agent must convey an offer to the seller as soon as possible after receiving it" — there is no discretion to sit on it.
Once a bully offer is accepted, treadstonelaw confirms it becomes an ordinary firm deal — "there’s no separate legal category for it." The disclosure obligations exist before acceptance, not after.
STEP 09 OF 10
RECO Bulletin 4.1 sets out three fixed points: the number of competing offers must be communicated to every person making one of them; the content can only be shared if the seller gives written direction; and "personal information or any information that would identify the person making an offer must not be shared" under any circumstances, even with the seller’s consent.
A buyer who made an offer, or their agent, can ask RECO directly to confirm the number of offers a listing brokerage told the seller existed — RECO’s own enforcement page notes RECO treats a mismatch as a formal complaint, though "RECO does not accept inquiries related to the number of competing offers from any other person." A verbal offer, and one not yet submitted, do not count as competing offers under this rule.
STEP 10 OF 10
RECO Bulletin 3.2 is unambiguous on sequence: a brokerage or designated representative "is prohibited from representing more than one client in a trade unless" written disclosure is made, the brokerage makes best efforts to get an acknowledgement, and each client then gives written consent — and "disclosure and consent at the time an offer is submitted is, in almost all circumstances, too late."
If you can already see multiple representation coming — your own buyer wants to write on your own listing — flag it on the file the moment that becomes likely, not the moment an offer is ready to go out. See the condition-tracking system guide for where this line item belongs on your working tracker.
A buyer offers $780,000 on a freehold resale with a financing condition. The offer is submitted Thursday, August 20, 2026. A 5-business-day financing condition does not expire Tuesday, August 25 — it expires Thursday, August 27, because Saturday and Sunday are not business days.
The deposit clause specifies 5% of the purchase price — $780,000 × 0.05 = $39,000 — "received," not initiated, within 24 hours of acceptance, following treadstonelaw’s reading of deposit timing. If the buyer’s bank confirms a wire was sent at 4:45pm the day before the deadline but the brokerage’s trust account does not show the funds until the following morning, the deposit is late on the plain wording of the clause, regardless of when the transfer was started.
Everything above — the remuneration clause, the number-versus-content rule, the multiple-representation sequence, RECO’s $2,000,000/$4,000,000 E&O and $200,000/$4,000,000 deposit-insurance figures — is Ontario’s TRESA regime, administered by RECO. It does not transfer automatically to any other province.
Alberta regulates the deposit itself differently in kind, not just in number: the Real Estate Council of Alberta’s own glossary defines a deposit as simply "a portion of the down payment that the buyer provides with their offer to purchase," and Alberta’s Real Estate Act Rules (Rule 51(1)(l)–(m)) puts an affirmative duty on the broker to immediately notify every party in writing if a contemplated deposit has not been received, or if a deposit cheque has been dishonoured — a specific written-notice trigger that does not appear in the Ontario sources fetched for this guide. British Columbia’s equivalent regulator (BCFSA) and Quebec’s OACIQ were not fetchable for offer-drafting specifics this session — confirm the equivalent sequence with each before assuming any of the above applies outside Ontario.
Treating a wire that was "sent" as a deposit that was "received." The clause almost always turns on funds actually landing in trust by the deadline, not on when your buyer’s bank says the transfer was initiated.
Disclosing multiple representation at the time the offer goes in. RECO Bulletin 3.2 calls that timing "too late" in almost all circumstances. Flag it the moment it becomes foreseeable, not once the offer is drafted.
Assuming an escalation clause will simply be accepted. Many listing agents refuse to present them at all, and using one discloses your buyer’s ceiling price for nothing if the seller won’t consider it.
Letting a verbal instruction stand in for the seller’s written direction on offer content. RECO Bulletin 4.1 requires written direction before any content of competing offers is shared — and personal or identifying information is never shareable, written direction or not.
Yes — RECO Bulletin 4.1 requires the number of competing offers to be communicated to every person who submitted one; that is not optional once asked. Sharing the content of those offers requires the seller’s written direction, and personal or identifying information is never shareable.
No. Treadstonelaw’s explainer confirms a seller is not obligated to accept, or even review, a pre-emptive offer — but RECO Bulletin 4.3 still requires the listing agent to convey it to the seller as soon as possible and to have written direction on hand for handling it.
The offer dies automatically and the offering party is released, per treadstonelaw. Nobody can later purport to accept an expired offer to form a contract.
No. RECO Bulletin 3.1 frames it as a document whose existence must be disclosed to an interested buyer, not a form every seller must complete — many agents now advise against using one at all precisely because it can create liability without being legally required.
A short call is enough to check your standard clauses against the current TRESA sequence.
