Question about "escalating offer"

[Adam Christopher Zaleski]

One of my realtor friends just switched from selling new builds for a builder to being an independent real estate agent. She has a listing with multiple offers. One offer was labeled as an "escalating offer" They offered 365K, but can go up to 375K if there are multiple offers. However, they state in their offer that if they offer more than 365K they want proof of multiple offers and the amount.

Her boss who is the broker wants to tell the people with the "escalating offer" the amount of the highest bid to see if they can beat it. He has been selling real estate for 40 years. However, that seems really stupid to tell them the amount.

For the people offering the "escalating offer" I would tell them to "pound sand." If they really want it and they can offer 375K, then that's what they should offer.

Anyone have any experience with this type of thing. Seems like an unreasonable request to me. I actually have an offer on a bank owned property right now. There are multiple offers so the bank gave everyone the option to bid more. However the bank is not going to tell anyone the amounts of the actual bids.

[Russell Brazil]

Banks do not accept escalation clauses. So that is a big difference here.

If proof of the 2nd best offer is not produced, then there is no offer to escalate against.  So if the seller wants the higher price, they have to provide proof of the 2nd offer.  Plain and simple.  If someone told me to "pound sand" instead of providing the proof, then I would simply withdraw the offer and they can sell it to someone offering less.