Best and final offer approach. Good or Bad?

danlightbulb

Been in same position myself and lost out.

What would happen if you said to the seller/EA - "my offer is £1000 above the best one you get"?

shortcrust

danlightbulb wrote: »

Been in same position myself and lost out.

What would happen if you said to the seller/EA - "my offer is £1000 above the best one you get"?

I wouldn’t play ball with that, both out of principle and because an extra 1000 isn’t much of an inducement to deal with someone who likes games. You also risk having a seller who might not be comfortable with a ‘bid’ that’s been determined by other people, so greater potential for withdrawing or trying claw back.

It’s also a pretty daft move on the part of the buyer. You’re effectively asking the seller to name their price.

Titus_Wadd

As a seller I'm not sure "best and final" can be that helpful within the English system where the price offered can be withdrawn or lowered up to exchange.

I might use the phrase as a buyer where an offer below the asking price has been rejected but I want to increase by a small increment but no further.

[Deleted User]

This happened to me, I always viewed it as 'what do I want to pay for it, in order to secure the property' and just bidding on that basis.
I lost out on the property because of a higher bid but later found out the seller never actually sold the property. Point is, I offered what I wanted to pay and ignored the games in this case.
You kind of have to decide whether playing these games with EA & Sellers are worth it for the property.
I didn't even entertain the idea of putting an offer in a different flat because as soon as I viewed it the EA said 'Just so you know... we've had an offer for the full asking price' in my mind they were trying to pressure me into an offer, in fact it made me realise I didnt want to 1. get into a battle 2. be stressed that the original offer couple could come back at any stage and increase their offer.
No thanks!

phoebe1989seb

We were involved in a 'best and final offers' situation at the end of 2017.

An empty property came onto the market in a part of Wales we were hoping to move to (from England) and we were the first to view on a Friday, iirc. Our own house sale was already going through on an auction contract so guaranteed to complete quickly. We had no mortgage on that property and would again be cash buyers for the next. In addition, we've done a few renovation projects and knew what to look for structurally so wouldn't be having a survey.

The property in question was priced extremely low and we made an asking price offer at the viewing, explaining our good position, no survey etc. The EA conducting the viewing made no mention that it was a probate sale - we assumed the owner had perhaps gone into care - merely saying he'd pass it on.

Over the weekend we noticed online that the price had risen by £20k and when we phoned to query this we were also informed that other viewings would be going ahead. We increased our offer to just below the new asking price.

After a few days we called to check the status of our offer and were informed that it was a probate sale and the solicitor dealing with the deceased estate was struggling to contact the various beneficiaries, one of whom lived in Spain.

The estate agent marketing the Welsh house made contact with our EA for proof of funds as well as asking for our ID etc which we provided.

The EA kept changing his story as to whether there were other offers on the table. We had the distinct feeling we were bidding against ourselves but really wanted the house which was priced at £100k+ less than we had to spend on a property.

The price on the online portals then rose by another £20k or thereabouts. We increased our offer again, stressing our position and offering to take the property as it was (full of rubbish, including a vast barn crammed with crap) so the family wouldn't have to empty it. By now the EA confirmed a second party had offered a similar amount - but they had a property to sell whereas we'd exchanged already.

At that point the EA said it was going to best and final offers. We put in our best offer and waited. A couple of days later we heard we'd been unsuccessful.

It was hugely disappointing, but we moved on and found somewhere better, on which we completed within four weeks.

When the first house's sold price eventually came onto Right Move it was less than our best and final (although that might have been because of survey findings) - plus the sale had taken eight months to complete.

I get that it's the EA's job to obtain the best price for his clients, but in our case I think the EA wasn't being entirely honest plus he (or maybe the clients/executors) kept moving the goalposts. I don't think we'd want to enter into best and final territory again. It left a nasty taste.

In the case of the OP, the advice given was ill-judged. Why say it wasn't their best and final when that was what had been asked for?

[Deleted User]

Best and final offers means you put forward the most you are willing to pay to secure the sale.

As others have said, it means the seller wants to get on with it and not spend time on bidding wars.

DAVESQUARED

Been a busy few weeks during which my son found and had an offer accepted on another much better house at a good price.
Whilst trecking around houses with him I had the chance to chat with a couple of other estate agents and mentioned about the whole "best and final offer" method. None of them operated this approach and one told me actually referred to it as a "dangerous game" read into that what you will.
What they all agreed was that it was purely a tactic to close the deal with as little hassle to the estate agent as possible. Whilst some other posts have described the "hassle" of multiple calls this is only for the buyers and the agent. The seller would only receive a call once a final price has been reached. If a seller did not want this "hassle" then they could just say it was their best and final offer at any point. The only person saving unwanted effort here is the estate agent.
The only "game playing" is the game started by the agent in the first place hoping people will over-bid to win. i think the actual loser in the whole deal is the seller so the lesson I've learned from this is that next time I come to sell a property I would not go with an agent that handles multiple bids this way.

Doozergirl

Super. We'll look forward to your opening an estate agency.

Lungboy

Best and final doesn't mean anything in England though. There was nothing to stop your son upping his bid even after the best and final offers are opened. Unless the seller instructs the EA otherwise, they are legally obliged to pass on any offers they receive (I think), plus you can always put an offer through the door.

Caz3121

It’s common in Scotland- you note interest and are advised of a closing date to submit best and final. Last sale we had 8 offers. When buying we knew properties were being outbid so ended up buying off market and agreeing a price - £5k over valuation but less than if had been in bidding war