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Original poster

Anyone bought a house recently? Need tips of best and final offer

24 replies

Padders87 · 16/10/2021 19:23

Hi all,

I put an offer on a house this week, I offered the asking price of £165k. They have 6 offers, the top one is £167k and they will be asking for best and final offer. I was thinking of offering 170k which I can afford, but is this a competitive offer? My maximum with mortgage is £177k but my mortgage adviser says not to go that high, but she won't really say what the highest is I should go for. We're all no-chain buyers too 😞
The market is horrid for buyers right now!

OP posts:

Livedandlearned · 16/10/2021 19:36

We recently one a best and final offer. The asking price was £225k and we offered £238500.

I also wrote an email stating why I was a good option- no chain, good deposit, decision in principle ready, lived the house, general niceness.

I also followed advice I'd read online stating not to offer a flat amount and to offer over, so instead of 100,000 go for 101,050 for example.

Good luck op!

TheEconomista · 16/10/2021 20:18

We went to best and final and the winner went £100k over 🤷‍♀️ You really can only bid what it’s worth to you and see what happens.

Autumnbaths · 17/10/2021 05:31

We recently offered offered what now seems a tiny amount over asking price - £5k - we didn’t get it - nice house though - nothing amazing, very interested to see what it went for as we felt it wasn’t worth anymore and probably wasn’t worth what we offered - so relieved a bit too!

SaltySheepdog · 17/10/2021 05:54

You may be the only chain free option or one of a couple chain free.

SwayingInTime · 17/10/2021 06:05

We got fed up of losing out last year and so went to £188k against asking price of £175k plus all the great position selling stuff/ please let us give you all our money email . Seems a bit bonkers percentage over wise but also justified in the crazy circumstances - was a means to an end.

SwayingInTime · 17/10/2021 06:06

Had no problems at all with the valuation.

Whinginadeville · 17/10/2021 06:16

I'd offer £176,000 plus the email outlining what a good position you are in and how keen you are to move. We offered 342,500 on a property marketed at 310,000 and didn't get it. 10% over is not unusual in my area but 5% is probably more normal. We found another house and mid purchase they came back as the sale had fallen through. We preferred the new house so they just had to start again. If the seller has known our position it might have changed things so don't underestimate the email like we did. Two houses in my round have just been marketed at 420 and 425 both went for 450 so the 5% is reasonable in this market.

Netaporter · 17/10/2021 06:28

@Padders87 I think what you need to consider is, do you love it enough to lose it over £1500 or so? If you can go to £177k and the subsequent mortgage valuation will support that figure, remembering that you are in a race with similarly placed buyers I don’t think you have many other options to win it unless you go to your max. I’d also go with outlining your position in a letter.

NoWordForFluffy · 17/10/2021 07:01

Is your mortgage advisor saying that because of your deposit amount? If £177k affects your LTV significantly, then you might not get a mortgage or the one you get might be more expensive. If the survey down values it, do you have the funds to top it up and maintain your offered LTV?

Mintine · 17/10/2021 08:46

We have just completed on a house that was on for offers over £325, it went to best and final and we offered and won with an offer in f £380k
We didn’t want to pay that, on the one hand, but the house is worth it to us. We were struggling to find anything we liked after the purchase or our dream house fell through.We didn’t have a problem with the valuation, but did have a large deposit.We have no regrets and love the house, so that’s the main thing. But it’s also about affordability, we would have been able to borrow more, but need to be comfortable.
That’s the thing you need to look at, if it will make you miserable paying so much.

Butterflyfern · 17/10/2021 08:53

I think 170k is too obvious and someone else will offer it. You need to decide at what price you can loose it and say "nevermind, it's not worth more to us anyway" and offer that. Then make it an odd number, to help it squeak higher than the competition

A house I sold was on at guide price 260 in August. 6 offers, best and final winning offer was 272578

Lonecatwithkitten · 17/10/2021 08:55

The advice I was given was only offer what will make you feel is the value of the house to you. So everyday when you pull up on the drive you are happy with what you paid.

Ariela · 17/10/2021 09:00

Don't offer even the next round pound up from eg 170, or 1175 - as people will think 'someone will offer 170 so if I go to 171.... Go 171600.

Original poster

Padders87 · 17/10/2021 09:10

Thanks everyone, I'll add a 1.1k or something to make my offer not a round number, and I've got an email written out about my position and what this house means to me (moving closer to my family where I grew up now I have a baby) . The mortgage adviser was saying if I go too far over it will be a problem getting the mortgage I need and I don't have extra funds to use as a larger deposit, personally to me the house is worth more because its perfect. I'll just have to hope for the best as the offers are all from first time buyers and investors so it doesn't give me an edge being no-chain!

My only worry is needing to move to the area before my boy needs to start nursery (I go back to work in March)

OP posts:

Longdistance · 17/10/2021 09:11

We had this last week. We we’re trying to buying a holiday home in Norfolk. It went to best and final offers. Quite frankly I think it was undervalued by the EA’s 🙄 we didn’t offer much more. We lost out. I didn’t like that it was a bidding war, so only offered £2k more.
I think it depends on how far you can go and want to go.

CheltenhamLady · 17/10/2021 12:06

We had this quite recently. We won a best and final by going in at 486K(offers over 475k) were happy, went on holiday and were gazumped by a friend of the vendor. Back to square one!

Then we offered on what could have been our dream house with 120k spent on it. It was offers over 300k and it went for 400k. We just wouldn't pay that much and then spend the cash to gut it. Someone has done exactly that though!

Now the market has tailed off and we are waiting to hear if we have got the one we offered on Friday. We are cash buyers, (money in the bank without needing a sale) and we have also sold our current property to cash buyers, so no chain at all.

I would just go in with what you are happy with, but definitely make it and odd number. Good luck.

MidnightMeltdown · 17/10/2021 13:19

It really depends on how much you want the house, and how many alternative options are coming up. I paid around 5% over last year and think this was quite typical in the market at the time. There were also offers from 5 or 6 other first time buyers, but my offer was enough to secure it.

MidnightMeltdown · 17/10/2021 13:21

I should perhaps add, that the house value has now gone up more than I paid, and there is very little coming onto the market in my price range, so I don't regret it at all.

Asdf12345 · 17/10/2021 13:25

It really depends on your local market and how much you and other people want that house. A colleague just paid 240k for a house advertised at 170, the offers kept going up to 220 before best and finals were asked for. She had spent a year in a rental waiting for a house in that area and desperately wanted to be on that particular street.

MadeForThis · 17/10/2021 13:27

Only offer what you can afford. But do make it an odd number and explain your position in the email.

GreenClock · 17/10/2021 19:37

Given the potentially stressful nursery situation I’d probably offer near the top to maximise chances of obtaining it - perhaps £175200 or something.

Fluffyghost · 17/10/2021 19:39

Only offer what you can afford and will be happy with when the excitement wears off. Be aware of the potential for down valuations when the mortgage valuation goes through. Whilst this may not prevent the sale it will impact your LTV. We have recently had an offer accepted of 262,500 on a property advertised at OIEO 250k we were Initially unsuccessful but the original winning best and finals chain collapsed and they came back to us and our offer 6 weeks later.

Original poster

Padders87 · 22/10/2021 19:29

Just came back to say I offered £172,100 and it was accepted today! Wahooo! May have played the single mum needing somewhere to raise my son card (violins... )
Thanks for your advice all 😊

OP posts:

SpeakingFranglais · 22/10/2021 20:49

DD won her best and final even though she wasn’t the highest. She paid 206250 the asking was 200.

With her offer she wrote an email saying why she was the best buyer, including working at the same NHS-trust as the seller, having a large deposit and being a genuine buyer who was trustworthy and honest and wouldn’t play games, she was also flexible on dates as she knew the seller hadn’t found a house and that she was a first time buyer living with parents.

She was picked for all the above I assume, her seller was as genuine and fair as she was and whilst process took ages they both stuck to their words and were honourable buyers and sellers.

Well done on getting it right op!

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