How to handle a best and final offer scenario

m4x1ne

I can't see any harm in saying "my original offer was my best and final". My partner and I had an offer accepted on a property that also went to best and final (think there were 4 other prospective buyers). We didn't increase our offer and it got accepted anyway. Had to pull out in the end because the vendors weren't serious, but I guess if it's a difference of a few thousand then there's every chance the vendors will be looking for the best fit for them. Perhaps you can bolster your offer by explaining to the agent what good buyers you'd be (flexible, patient, proactive etc.)?

Mickey666

It's never wise to over-extend yourself. 
Offer as much as you can afford and are prepared to pay - that's really all you can do.
if someone offers more there's nothing you can do about it.

Ramouth

chasingfreedom said:

Ramouth said:

I wouldn’t offer more than you can cover.  Mortgage valuations rarely come in above asking price regardless of what the property sells for - why would the surveyor take the risk?  

You can’t pretend to be surprised by a surveyor saying the property isn’t worth more than the asking price so I can’t imagine the vendor having much sympathy.  If finances are so tight now might not be the best time to be competing for very popular houses.

Unfortunately all houses in my area are popular, there are so few coming on the market. 10 houses on the market in the last few weeks within our price range (less than 300k) We have a few thousand spare but we are also conscious we have solicitors, moving costs etc to pay on top of our deposit so don't want to overstretch.

I do feel for you.  It’s horrible to be told you can’t even look at a place (has happened to us a fair bit).  But you should definitely not let that push you into overextending your finances.  You might miss out on a few houses that other people are in a position to bid more for but things will calm down eventually.  Not sure if prices will drop but eventually all this pent up demand will reduce and you will be competing less.

bellabella

I am a seller and have had 4 offers which went to final and best offer 1 stayed at asking price 2 were2k over asking price and 1 was 5k over asking price . I rejected the 1 at asking price i also rejected the 5k over as they were in a chain I am chain free I then rejected the people who had upset my neighbours by continually parking over their drives when viewing 3 times they were chain free but I have good neighbours so i picked the ones i thought would fit in and who were offering a reasonable offer so its not always the highest price that gets it there are other factors so in my opinion offer what you are comfortable with if its meant to be it will be don't overstretch yourself you still need to live Good Luck

sseshield

Any advice on how best to proceed? Do we go up to maybe 243k, which I know we could cover with cash if the valuation came up short? Or do we assume the mortgage can cover it? We have an AIP for 277k but I guess that makes no difference if they decide the house isn't worth it. Help!!!

A property i viewed a few weeks back went to best and final. Like most places, property is in high demand in our area. The asking price was £205,000 and my best and final was £217,000 so 6% over asking price. Apparently there were 18 viewings in 3 days and 10 offers made (probably over inflated figures by the EA). The seller accepted my offer so i'm currently waiting on the mortgage company to value the property. If it's down valued then I will try and renegotiate with the seller and or bridge the gap with my own funds. Don't overstretch yourself, offer what you can afford

Squeaky9

The house we bought last year went to BAFO. We weren’t surprised, it was tough just getting a viewing but we loved it. Long story short they had 10 offers below asking which were outright rejected. 5 offers at asking went to BAFO and we offered 2.3% above the offer price, which also put it into the stamp duty bracket (so just over £500k). We were FTB with 15% deposit though so in a strong position which did it for us. We offered what we were happy to pay, as in our opinion it was underpriced by the agent (we’d been looking for months so had a good idea what our money would get us). It wasn’t downvalued by the lender and we love living here, so all I can advise is offer what you feel it is worth to you ie. if you were outbid you’d feel comfortable you had offered your best, and if you won it be happy you weren’t overpaying (in your eyes). 

chasingfreedom

Thanks everyone, we decided to submit 245k in the end. If the mortgage doesn't cover the extra we can cover 3k extra ourselves at least and it'll be months before it completes so we either save a bit more or renegotiate if down valued I guess. We had to show proof of funds and AIP etc and I put a bit about our circumstances and the fact we're chain free etc just incase that helps. We should get a decision tomorrow apparently but I'm not holding my breath that we'll get it. I'm sure somebody came along and chucked a stupid amount in the pot but we don't know the vendors so no idea if all they want is the most cash possible or whether they have a bit of sense to go with the best fit and most reliable buyers.

verytired11

chasingfreedom said:

Thanks everyone, we decided to submit 245k in the end. If the mortgage doesn't cover the extra we can cover 3k extra ourselves at least and it'll be months before it completes so we either save a bit more or renegotiate if down valued I guess. We had to show proof of funds and AIP etc and I put a bit about our circumstances and the fact we're chain free etc just incase that helps. We should get a decision tomorrow apparently but I'm not holding my breath that we'll get it. I'm sure somebody came along and chucked a stupid amount in the pot but we don't know the vendors so no idea if all they want is the most cash possible or whether they have a bit of sense to go with the best fit and most reliable buyers.

Good luck and fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞

chasingfreedom

verytired11 said:

chasingfreedom said:

Thanks everyone, we decided to submit 245k in the end. If the mortgage doesn't cover the extra we can cover 3k extra ourselves at least and it'll be months before it completes so we either save a bit more or renegotiate if down valued I guess. We had to show proof of funds and AIP etc and I put a bit about our circumstances and the fact we're chain free etc just incase that helps. We should get a decision tomorrow apparently but I'm not holding my breath that we'll get it. I'm sure somebody came along and chucked a stupid amount in the pot but we don't know the vendors so no idea if all they want is the most cash possible or whether they have a bit of sense to go with the best fit and most reliable buyers.

Good luck and fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞

Thank you Actually I just commented on your thread to see if you were one of my other bidders, haha 

Hannimal

It sounds like you could do with speaking with a mortgage advisor to make sure you actually understand what your budget is,.