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Original poster

EA must have revealed our best and final figure

61 replies

KimGa · 07/10/2022 05:44

In March our dream house came on the market for 695k. Loads of interest - it went to Best and Finals. Our offer was 741k. We had a first time buyer buying ours and we wrote a letter to the older lady selling about why we wanted the house so much (grew up nearby, children already at local schools etc).

We didn’t get it. It went to another older lady, in a longer chain who had also written a letter. EA said bids were close but that ‘it was also an emotional decision’. I took comfort in the fact that we couldn’t have gone any higher and the winning bid must have been a few thousand more.

It went through in July and I’ve just found the sold price online - 741.5k. It cannot be coincidence that the other bidder just happened to bid £500 more than my odd number bid which was 46k over asking. The EA must have revealed what ours was and asked her to go just over it. We were never offered the opportunity to increase.

I guess I already know it’s up to a seller who they sell to but I feel like this was deeply unfair - AIBU?

We are about to complete on another house now but it will always be the one that got away.

OP posts:
oceanbleu · 07/10/2022 05:55

They possibly could have revealed it. However an extra £500 is neither here nor there I believe. To tell them to just add a bit extra on wouldn't have been what would've swayed it for them, I think. They would have chosen emotionally as the EA said. Whatever their reasons, it felt right for them. It's best to move past dwelling on it too much. Sorry you were disappointed, but all the best with your new home.

HRD2be · 07/10/2022 05:58

If I were offering on best and final I wouldn't go for a round figure of £xxx,000 so it may be that she added the £500 on as a tactic. However, £500 is nothing (at that price) and probably wouldn't have changed the vendors mind

HotStickyMess · 07/10/2022 06:17

Or she could originally have offered more but negotiated down after the survey. They could have used your offer in the later negotiations (eg, the seller could have said “ok, I’ll take £x off because the roof is falling down but won’t go below the next best offer of £741k”)

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 06:22

we offered & missed out on a few houses & some EAs told us what others had bid. I also know 2 sellers who had buyers bid against themselves eg my friend had decided to go with 653k that a couple had offered but at best & final some couple went to 675k. madness!

What has made me feel better is my "one that got away" did sell for its price, I thought it would be battered down in the survey. Tbh it went for 60k over budget, we offered 40k & needed quite a bit of work. In this economic climate I'm glad we didn't get it.

NashvilleQueen · 07/10/2022 06:29

Or she could originally have offered more but negotiated down after the survey. They could have used your offer in the later negotiations (eg, the seller could have said “ok, I’ll take £x off because the roof is falling down but won’t go below the next best offer of £741k”)

This is a very good point to consider.

dubyalass · 07/10/2022 06:52

We were never offered the opportunity to increase.

Well no, because it was best and final offers - the clue is in the name. You say yourself that you couldn't go any higher. What if you'd matched their £500 and then they'd gone higher? It's not worth the agent's time to deal with a bidding 'war' for small amounts like that.

The vendor will have chosen the other buyer for a reason. It's a shame for you but I think you need to tell yourself that you probably wouldn't have got it even with the extra £500.

Been there myself and it's really frustrating.

ChilliBandit · 07/10/2022 06:58

I bet the seller revealed it. “We reaallly want to sell to you as you remind me of my dear sister but we couldn’t possibly unless you beat this offer of £741k”. Insert Daily Mail sad face with pleading eyes. The ultimate combination of greed and playing on people’s emotions. All sense of decency goes out the window with house buying/selling.

ChilliBandit · 07/10/2022 06:58

And I am not saying people shouldn’t try and get the most for their house, but don’t use emotional blackmail to do it.

AuntieJoyce · 07/10/2022 07:08

I bought a house this year and the EA told us what we needed to offer as best and final as we were the cash buyers and my OH buttered her up. We offered £500 over but to be honest we could’ve offered £250 over and we would’ve got it.

notdaddycool · 07/10/2022 07:16

I took an offer 10k less as one was a cash buyer and the order had mocked us about a bit. We wanted to move and felt they were more reliable, £500 is really neither here nor there.

AsAnyFuleKno · 07/10/2022 07:26

This was supposed to be your 'best and final offer' - if you could afford and were willing to pay £741.5k or £742k then you should have offered that.

If you couldn't or wouldn't, then you were never going to get the house while someone who was prepared to pay that was bidding.

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 07:31

Well no, because it was best and final offers - the clue is in the name.

Does the op mean that? We had a best & final that was meant to be two offers but after our first one we got told the sellers went with the cash buyer so that was it.

dubyalass · 07/10/2022 08:01

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 07:31

Well no, because it was best and final offers - the clue is in the name.

Does the op mean that? We had a best & final that was meant to be two offers but after our first one we got told the sellers went with the cash buyer so that was it.

You've lost me. It can't be best and final if you have the chance to up the offer again. That's just a bidding war.

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 08:07

Every house we bid on this year involved us viewing a house on a Sat open day, submitting an offer with details of deposit & mortgage/position on Monday & all bar the one I talked about invited you to give a best & final in the afternoon on Monday. Never experienced anything like that before buying & selling but all the estate agents referred to the process at the open day as best & final on Monday. 🤷🏻‍♀️

NightmareSlashDelightful · 07/10/2022 08:09

Not necessarily. You didn’t just pull 741 out of your arse (I hope!) — you’ll have worked it out, based on perceived value and similar sold values. It will (or should) have been a realistic figure that was carefully arrived at. Is it so much of a stretch that someone else arrived at a similar figure?

dubyalass · 07/10/2022 08:18

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 08:07

Every house we bid on this year involved us viewing a house on a Sat open day, submitting an offer with details of deposit & mortgage/position on Monday & all bar the one I talked about invited you to give a best & final in the afternoon on Monday. Never experienced anything like that before buying & selling but all the estate agents referred to the process at the open day as best & final on Monday. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ha, that's mad! Agents round here tended to give a deadline a few days after viewings finished. I don't remember many open days though - viewings were done over a week or so. I suppose it's a method to get people to outbid themselves and drive the price up further.

eltonjohnsglasses · 07/10/2022 08:28

Oh yes completely done to drive prices up & the checks before you could submit an offer were ridiculous. It was so stressful as I'm indecisive & trying to decide if I wanted to overbid on an house I'd seen for 15 mins 🤯. We got one in the end because we had already sold & our sellers couldn't get a viewing unless they were under offer. Crazy times,

Original poster
KimGa · 07/10/2022 09:11

Yes this is exactly what I think happened. And I suppose the part I’m angry about is actually the lack of honesty from the EA. All these months I’ve believed the other bidder went higher than us so fair enough we didn’t win. However the sold figure to me confirms we were the highest bidder but they liked the other buyer more for a personal reason (not no chain or cash buyer which would have been fairer) so they went back to them and asked them to beat our offer.

I would rather the agent had said ‘you were the highest but they’ve decided to go with the second best offer due to a personal connection’. I wish the seller had had to choose between selling to who she wanted for less or the most money on the table. Our offer was obviously used as leverage to extract more money out of the second best which makes a mockery of best and finals.

It wasn’t a carefully calculated sum reflecting local market etc really it was just the highest we could possibly go so I don’t think she can have coincidentally decided on that figure plus £500.

Anyway, I am glad in some ways because stretching to the max like that would have been scary if we’d got it given how interest rates have gone. The house we’re going through with is in a lower price bracket. However, the experience of losing out on that one made me bid even higher over the asking price than 46k in the Best and Finals for this one which makes me annoyed because we probably didn’t need to.

OP posts:
Original poster
KimGa · 07/10/2022 09:13

ChilliBandit · 07/10/2022 06:58

I bet the seller revealed it. “We reaallly want to sell to you as you remind me of my dear sister but we couldn’t possibly unless you beat this offer of £741k”. Insert Daily Mail sad face with pleading eyes. The ultimate combination of greed and playing on people’s emotions. All sense of decency goes out the window with house buying/selling.

Sorry meant to quote ChilliBandit there, who I felt hit the nail on the head.

OP posts:
SatinHeart · 07/10/2022 09:27

Hmm it's frustrating but the EA is being paid by the seller, so their aim is to get the best result for them. They're not exactly famous for being honest!

We sold a year go and discounted the two highest bids in our best and finals because of other factors (chain length, size of deposit etc). £500 really doesn't sound like enough of a sway on an asking price that big. I think either she wrote a better letter, or she bid higher and it was revised down during the conveyancing for whatever reason.

ChilliBandit · 07/10/2022 09:28

@KimGa - sorry this happened to you. We were the second highest in the best and final and had this pulled on us. We told them to politely eff off and withdrew our bid. I do not regret it. It’s a system that relies on people being honourable and we stick to that when house buying. Always works out for the best in the end even if it takes a big longer to buy/sell but I sleep better at night.

ChicCroissant · 07/10/2022 09:33

You don't know what the other bidder put forward, you were told they were close by the EA - not that yours was the highest. I can't see from what you've said on here why you think the other bidder was given a chance to raise their bid. It's time to focus on your new home rather than inventing scenarios about a offer that was never accepted on another house. Good luck with the move, OP.

Tippexy · 07/10/2022 09:37

AsAnyFuleKno · 07/10/2022 07:26

This was supposed to be your 'best and final offer' - if you could afford and were willing to pay £741.5k or £742k then you should have offered that.

If you couldn't or wouldn't, then you were never going to get the house while someone who was prepared to pay that was bidding.

It’s not about that, it’s about the fact that the unusual figures are so similar. It’s fishy.

NoSquirrels · 07/10/2022 09:39

There must be a reason you’re so suspicious of the estate agent in this?

Because I’d naturally assume the winning purchaser bud much higher - £450K upwards? - and then at some point in the process got cold feet or a survey surprise and negotiated a discount. The seller then said ‘No lower than £741.5K or we go back to a previous offer…’

iekanda · 07/10/2022 09:43

The industry is in dire need of regulation. I hate too much regulation, but it seems we are a dishonest bunch without it.