Best and Final Offers today - eek!

[Chickoletta]

We’re trying to buy a very small, rundown property in the most beautiful location and plot with a view to extending it to make a family home. Guide price £300k.

We are in a good position as we are due to complete on our current house before the end of the month. I have a mortgage AIP in place for the full amount but have offered £275k so far.

The agent has asked for best and final offers today.

There is one other couple interested and they have also offered £275k.

Agent asked yesterday how much of a deposit we were planning to put down. I said 10% as we want to save capital for building work. Will this act against us? Surely a mortgage offer is a mortgage offer? We both have good professional jobs and this is well within our affordability range.

Does anyone have any thoughts or tips on the ‘best and final’ business? I don’t want to lose it. 😬

If you really like the house, just give them the price you think it is worth most to you. Don't play games, it might risk losing it in the end.

How do you know what the other couple offered? I thought it was supposed to be secret?

Sounds fab though, I hope you get it !

I think the agent might be worried that the mortgage company will have to value the property at least the offer price otherwise they won't give you enough money to afford the house. I had two offer over asking in one property only gir the mortgage value to value it for less - neither would have got their mortgage based on that as the loan to value would have been off (I accepted a lower offer just off my original asking price).
Make your final offer based on how much you want it, how much you can afford, and how much you think it's worth in the market.

If you’re going to be there a long time then paying an extra 10 or even 20k isn’t going to make that much difference. We paid over the odds for our house but we knew we would stay in it a long time. It wasn’t about getting a bargain it was about securing the house we wanted. It was worth more than asking price to us, 10 years later still have no regrets.

We also had to go through a best and final offer.

Asking price 500 - we and the other couple both offered 480. Vendor wasn't happy and wanted 488k. We didn't meet the counteroffer as it really was our best and final offer, the house in my view, honestly wasn't even worth 480 but DH loved it. The other couple met the counteroffer though. I am so glad we didn't because we found a much nicer house for just a bit more.

If you really love the house - just offer what you think it's worth, or alternatively, make a cheeky offer of 276k, at least it's higher than the other offer.

Good luck - I hope you will come back with some good news!

Thanks all. They extended the deadline for offers until next Weds so we’ve got a fairly agonising wait on our hands now. We’ve decided to offer the asking price plus £500.

Feel that we’d be gutted if we found out that the other people got it for a price we could have afforded, so going to go for it. I really don’t think it’s worth any more than this though.

@MairzyDoats - it’s offers, not sealed bids, so not confidential as such.

Keeping everything crossed now. Will let you know!

Good luck!

Good luck OP, I hope you get it