Best and final offers

[Busbygirl]

I’ve just put an offer in on a property but estate agent called yesterday to say it’s going to best and final offers.
There’s only 2 offers on the table ( mine and the other one).
I feel the whole process isn’t transparent anymore and this has been designed to try and bump up our offers.
I know there’s nothing wrong with it but thought this was used when there were multiple offers?
I like the house I’ve put an offer in on, but I’m put off now. I’m a cash free, chain free buyer and have been looking for a house for months so don’t feel like backing out.
What’s the best way to offer under this system? Stick with my offer or go higher?

Thanks for updating us and pleased you got your house. As you said not many have come up this past year so at least you can now stop looking. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

TBH, the EA did a great job for their client - squeezing every last penny out of the interested parties. I personally wouldn't play the game. My offer is my offer - like it or go elsewhere.

I would be having a thorough survey - If you feel like you are paying a bit more than you were comfortable with then its important that you dont find anything unexpected at a later date. Hopefully nothing is needed but if it is your aware. Fingers crossed you will enjoy the property and quickly forget paying a bit more.

Well, bully for you? Some people put in a ‘cheeky’ offer. ‘Best and final’ focuses their minds as to whether they want the property or not, and how much it’s really worth to them.

Rather than looking at it that you've overpaid by 5k, think about how you'd have felt to lose out on it at the price you paid (which still sounds like it's within the reasonable range). If the other party had put in what you did and you'd refuse to budge, would you be kicking yourself?

I'm in Scotland so closing dates quite normal here.

For our current house I went 5k over on the home report price to stop it going on the market.
It had been empty and was in full 1970s condition. In reality it probably wouldn't have been a hugely popular one.

However, it only takes one other person to want it. You have no way of knowing that if the estate agent wasn't proactive and brought it to a quick close, someone else wouldn't have come in to the mix in a week's time.

Ultimately I couldn't buy another house that suited us so well for this price and in this location.

My house is at the low end of property prices but even here, £5k is nothing over the period I've lived here and I've never regretted that money.

You also have to consider the benefit of what sounds like a motivated seller. They sound like they just want to get it done which is worth a lot over the 'we just need to find something we like' type who can drag it out over a very long time.

If you just offer what a home is worth to you then you can avoid all the heartache and mental stress that may result from game playing. My offer is my offer. I'm relaxed if someone offers more because it wasn't worth it to me. Better that than losing a purchase because you deliberately offered less than the place was worth to you, because you felt that a bit of gambling may save you 5/10K.

Well, I don’t disagree, but not everyone interested in a property feels similarly. Last time we sold, one of the original offerers eventually bought the house at about £40k more than his original offer.

The big problem buyers have is that for very desirable houses there are people who actually want them! Special houses or ones on very desirable roads sell. In this case they wanted the asking price so maybe the EA should have said that. Of course the other party might have increased their offer by £10,000. However that would have reflected their position and feelings about the house. I don’t see it as underhand. It’s up to you what you bid. You are not forced to do anything and your first offer wasn’t accepted.

Mostly EAs to and fro between interested parties and we’ve been in a bidding war but stopped at our limit. Didn’t get it. The buyer who did pulled out weeks later. In the meantime we had exchanged on another property so ability to complete should matter.

Sounds like you’re in a good position. Seller won’t always accept highest offer if highest is in a long chain and there’s a slightly lower offer chain-free. I list a house earlier this year when though I was highest offer, for this reason. Subsequently missed out on a couple of others because I didn’t offer high enough, and am about to move into one I did get, by offering £45k over asking (next best offer was £5k below). The agent selling the first house I missed out on called me this week to ask if I was still looking as that sale had fallen through, so I guess problems can happen in any scenario.

I found it soul-destroying endlessly viewing houses and making offers and being pipped at the post so with the one I’m buying I just genuinely made my best offer and accepted that perhaps I would overpay a bit but I wanted the house. That said, the market has dropped in most areas now.

Thanks all. I’m happy my offer was accepted. My first offer wasn’t cheeky just what other houses in the road had sold for recently. It wasn’t even rejected it just went to best and final.
It’s the lack of transparency for me and not knowing with best and final if you really are bidding against others or whether you end up bidding against yourself especially when you’re told only one other person is supposedly after the property.
I’ll think of it as £5k over a long term which makes me feel better about it. I just needed the money for a washing machine, dining room table etc but will buy 2nd hand for now, which I’m fine with.

I think there probably would have been another bidder. It’s too risky for an estate agent to lie and say go to best and final cos you could just say that you aren’t playing that game and walk away. You wanted the house, then somebody else probably did, after all you would be going for the best house out there. A family member was told by her estate agent when selling a flat that they 2 identical offers within 40 mins of each other ( it was 23 December) after 3 weeks on the market. The agent said he had already told the people to put their best and final offer without asking family member. One person upped their offer by £6k,the other person stood by their original offer. It was a large top floor sunny flat which didn’t come up often and a steal even with the increased £6k. I often wonder if the person who refused to increase their offer regretted it. It’s just not worth the risk of losing it by thinking it’s just a game to increase a bid.

If the estate agent is doing this and there is actually no other offer on the table, ie they are lying to bump up the offer (and likely their commission), surely this should be reported to the ombudsman? I hate best and final- if I wanted to purchase a house in that manner I’d go to a property action.

The commission increase woukd be very small, hardly worth risk losing the sale.

I can understand your frustration. Some estate agents definitely lie about other interested parties to try to squeeze more money out of potential buyers. There was certainly a lot of demand from buyers in later 2020-22 but this tailed off in many areas after that and even some of the areas which haven't yet seen falls in prices seem to be tailing down now. I'm sure some biddings wars are happening for houses which have been marketed cleverly, below the usual market price or in areas where things are still moving but they are far less common. Only you can judge what is going on here. The best way to avoid regret either way is to offer the maximum figure that you can comfortably afford and are happy to pay.