5 Offers made... Do we accept best offer OR engage in Best and Final offers?

danlightbulb

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid.

And it is discriminatory that one group gets extra help over another. There are multiple issues in the housing market all interacting with each other.

Its not about being supportive of one ftb over another ftb. Its about favouring normal people over cash buyers or btl's.

I also never said i wasnt a hypocrit at times. Of course I am - we all are.

Ive been on the recieving end of losing out to cash buyers loads of times so i couldnt care less about them and want to see sellers start to positively discrimiate against them to benefit people who need a home. 

Unicorn_cottage

danlightbulb said:

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid. 

The best and final system is used to stop protracted negotiations amongst multiple people. Ultimately a property is worth what someone will pay for it. I got my house through best and final and paid £18k over the asking price. Do I feel exploited? No. I had done a lot of research into the market/area I wanted to buy in, (Bristol), and knew that if I didn't up my offers I would have gotten nowhere. 

danlightbulb

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid. 

The best and final system is used to stop protracted negotiations amongst multiple people. Ultimately a property is worth what someone will pay for it. I got my house through best and final and paid £18k over the asking price. Do I feel exploited? No. I had done a lot of research into the market/area I wanted to buy in, (Bristol), and knew that if I didn't up my offers I would have gotten nowhere. 

Do you know what the other offers were? What if the next offer down from yours was asking price?

Unicorn_cottage

danlightbulb said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid. 

The best and final system is used to stop protracted negotiations amongst multiple people. Ultimately a property is worth what someone will pay for it. I got my house through best and final and paid £18k over the asking price. Do I feel exploited? No. I had done a lot of research into the market/area I wanted to buy in, (Bristol), and knew that if I didn't up my offers I would have gotten nowhere. 

Do you know what the other offers were? What if the next offer down from yours was asking price?

No why would I obsess about that? Is out of my hands. At the end of the day I got the house I really really wanted. Have had 5 happy years here so far.

danlightbulb

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid. 

The best and final system is used to stop protracted negotiations amongst multiple people. Ultimately a property is worth what someone will pay for it. I got my house through best and final and paid £18k over the asking price. Do I feel exploited? No. I had done a lot of research into the market/area I wanted to buy in, (Bristol), and knew that if I didn't up my offers I would have gotten nowhere. 

Do you know what the other offers were? What if the next offer down from yours was asking price?

No why would I obsess about that? Is out of my hands. At the end of the day I got the house I really really wanted. Have had 5 happy years here so far.

And that's great but its not really money saving is it? We're on a forum which works to help people save £10 a month on their energy bills or broadband, yet when it comes to housing its fine to spend £18,000 extra when you may not have needed to? An amount which dwarfs small savings on your mobile phone contract. Just because you were happy with your deal, doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement in the system as a whole. Wouldn't it have been better for you to have had an open negotiation with the seller and got a better price, (assuming you still would have got the house)? 

How can a forum such as this be supportive to the best interests of both buyers and sellers in a property transaction? Its impossible. My view is that in a property transaction, the seller usually holds the power, especially if they have a desirable house. This is no different from the big corporate energy company - they hold the cards against a consumer with less power and information. Therefore the buyer's best interests should be favoured, not the seller's. But anyone already with a house will of course not see it that way because of their vested interest. It is, in my view, a pretty major systemic hypocrisy and there is a major inequality between house owners and non house owners.

getmore4less

Asking price was a guess that did the job off getting people through the door and making offers.
(many go for the high side and look to take offers but risk not getting people through the door)
The best and final is a simple request  "what is this house worth to you"  tell us and we will let you know if you can have it for that.
If you want to try and get it for a price lower than it is worth to you that adds to the risk of losing it because it is worth that same to someone else.

The key is to have done some serious market research to establish what the place may be worth to others.
From that research you get an idea how deluded/realistic the seller is from the asking price.

Unicorn_cottage

danlightbulb said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

danlightbulb said:

Not really. That was an issue with the valuation of the house and a classic example of how the best and final system is used to exploit people. If Id have lost out fairly because of a direct negotiation then no problem. If id have won that house id have probably felt like i overpaid. 

The best and final system is used to stop protracted negotiations amongst multiple people. Ultimately a property is worth what someone will pay for it. I got my house through best and final and paid £18k over the asking price. Do I feel exploited? No. I had done a lot of research into the market/area I wanted to buy in, (Bristol), and knew that if I didn't up my offers I would have gotten nowhere. 

Do you know what the other offers were? What if the next offer down from yours was asking price?

No why would I obsess about that? Is out of my hands. At the end of the day I got the house I really really wanted. Have had 5 happy years here so far.

And that's great but its not really money saving is it? We're on a forum which works to help people save £10 a month on their energy bills or broadband, yet when it comes to housing its fine to spend £18,000 extra when you may not have needed to? An amount which dwarfs small savings on your mobile phone contract. Just because you were happy with your deal, doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement in the system as a whole. Wouldn't it have been better for you to have had an open negotiation with the seller and got a better price, (assuming you still would have got the house)? 

How can a forum such as this be supportive to the best interests of both buyers and sellers in a property transaction? Its impossible. My view is that in a property transaction, the seller usually holds the power, especially if they have a desirable house. This is no different from the big corporate energy company - they hold the cards against a consumer with less power and information. Therefore the buyer's best interests should be favoured, not the seller's. But anyone already with a house will of course not see it that way because of their vested interest. It is, in my view, a pretty major systemic hypocrisy and there is a major inequality between house owners and non house owners.

House buying is obviously not all about money saving. It is my home. As I stated before I researched the market and went into the best and final with eyes wide open. All negotiation was done through the EA. My initial offer of £205k, £5k over asking price, was rejected and it went to best and final after that. I don't see how an open negotiation would be any better as the EA or Vendor could say I have had an offer of X can you better that. How would I know if this was true?

Of course the seller holds the power IF a house is desirable. You could say the opposite if the house is undesirable.

You are raging against a system that is not going to change. 

getmore4less

Having an opens system where every offer has to be made public won't help those that can't afford the houses they want.

They may was well just go and sit in the rental corner for ever with crashy.

People that want a cheaper house have to find one that no one else wants for the price they are willing to pay.

Then with all offers public  their offer will be the first and no competition till  people go that's cheap and out bid you anyway.

Work out what a place is worth to you and negotiate up to that forget what everyone else want to pay.