Best and final offers

[Gyptian]

So we find ourselves in our second best and final offer situation after also losing a bidding war over another property. The area in which we’re looking to buy is an incredibly hot market where houses fly off the shelf usually for way in excess of the asking price.

We know what we are willing to pay to secure this house. My question is how soon do we make the best and final offer. Will the estate agents keep our offer confidential until the deadline? What I don’t want is to put in the final offer and then the estate agent informs the other competitors of what we’ve offered. Should we wait until shortly before the deadline before submitting our offer or does it not make any difference?

They shouldn't be telling the other people what you have bidded, obv some people don't stick to that esp if there is someone else they favour for whatever reason.

My advice is give whatever you can afford in line with its value if you really love it.

If you don't really love it then make an offer of what you think it is worth and if you don't get it then move on

If you really want the property then always make your absolute best offer because you rarely get another chance. Yes, this may mean you end up paying £30K more than the second highest offer but if you don’t like the game then you just have to reuse to play.

The agent shouldn’t be revealing who’s bid what - and it isn’t in their interest to anyway, because as with above scenario they stand to get a higher price and making more commission by playing secret squirrels with everyone.