Best and final

verytired11

We are in a best and final situation.  I understand the advice that the best thing to do is put in an offer of what we think the property is worth and what we can afford.  However, I am interested to hear from people who have had an offer accepted recently through a best and final process, what did you pay in terms of asking price ie percentage under or over.  I would be interested to see the overall range that people are having to pay to secure a property in this competitive market.  I would also be interested to hear from people who have had an offer rejected at this best and final stage, and what percentage under or over it was.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

Every time I've been asked for this I've walked away. I don't get caught up in crappy estate agents games. I would encourage you to do the same. 

Sunsaru

It's not about percentages etc it is, as you say, about what you think the property is worth and what you can afford. You'll either win or you won't.

Thrugelmir

In your previous thread this was your dream house. To secure it you'll need to give a knock out bid. Not worry about %'s.  

Beeboo23

For my recent and first purchase I called to give an asking price offer. The estate agent then said would it be ok to call back later and keep adding a bit more and a bit more on as there were two other asking price offers. None of us were willing to increase our offers past asking price and in the end I got the house as I had the most ‘secure’ job. 

Had lost out on a few other houses as I didn’t want to bid over asking but in hindsight I’m really glad we did. 

Offer what you think it’s worth and a figure you’re comfortable with and if it’s for you it will be. 😊

Tiglet2

My son (FTB) bid in a best and final situation.  His bid matched that of another person (also FTB) who successfully won the bid, but the vendor chose the other person because they already had their mortgage in principle.  Sometimes, it is not about the amount you are bidding, but how quickly you can proceed.

Beartricks

Tiglet2 said:

My son (FTB) bid in a best and final situation.  His bid matched that of another person (also FTB) who successfully won the bid, but the vendor chose the other person because they already had their mortgage in principle.  Sometimes, it is not about the amount you are bidding, but how quickly you can proceed.

None of the estate agents we've dealt with over the past few months would let us look at a house, let alone make an offer, without a mortgage in principal. Some want to know how big our deposit is - I suspect because a lot of houses are being downvalued (as my mortgage advisor has told me) and they're favouring buyers who aren't right at the top of their affordability and have the cash to fall back on later in the process.

To answer the OPs question we recently offered £266k on a £260k house that was overpriced to begin with, and pushed it up to £268k as the EA made it sound like we just needed to edge out the other offers. When we didn't get it I asked if we were in the ball park and they said we weren't even close. 

The last house on the same road went for £20k less this time last year. If this went for £10k or £20k over asking I'll be really surprised if it doesn't get downvalued.

Personally I'm starting to think my best chance isn't to put in the best offer, but to snap a house up from another buyer who overextends themselves and can't cover the difference when the lender won't match the ridiculous offers being made.

lookstraightahead

I've just bought a house under normal circumstances, where a vendor has an asking price and a buyer offers to buy it. Very straightforward.

i would not for one second entertain the absolute nonsense of house buying being flipped on its head, where vendors / EAs ask you to form an orderly queue for the privilege of someone maybe selling their house to you.

just walk away and find a property where the vendor etc isn't in la la land. Don't they realise that the house will most likely be down valued and the show with be on repeat in two months time?

verytired11

Thrugelmir said:

In your previous thread this was your dream house. To secure it you'll need to give a knock out bid. Not worry about %'s.  

The first decision is whether to enter a bidding war; if we do decide to do so, the second decision is what constitutes a knock out bid.  I can afford a knock out bid as I am moving out of London.  And of course no one can tell me what bid would secure the property. However, it may be helpful to know the range that people are having to offer, in percentage terms.  But yes, it is helpful to frame it in the way that you do and to decide whether this is indeed our dream house. The house itself is nice and ticks boxes, but would be overpriced if not for the beautiful location.  So yes, we need to decide how important the setting is in deciding whether to pay over.

verytired11

Beartricks said:

Tiglet2 said:

My son (FTB) bid in a best and final situation.  His bid matched that of another person (also FTB) who successfully won the bid, but the vendor chose the other person because they already had their mortgage in principle.  Sometimes, it is not about the amount you are bidding, but how quickly you can proceed.

None of the estate agents we've dealt with over the past few months would let us look at a house, let alone make an offer, without a mortgage in principal. Some want to know how big our deposit is - I suspect because a lot of houses are being downvalued (as my mortgage advisor has told me) and they're favouring buyers who aren't right at the top of their affordability and have the cash to fall back on later in the process.

To answer the OPs question we recently offered £266k on a £260k house that was overpriced to begin with, and pushed it up to £268k as the EA made it sound like we just needed to edge out the other offers. When we didn't get it I asked if we were in the ball park and they said we weren't even close. 

The last house on the same road went for £20k less this time last year. If this went for £10k or £20k over asking I'll be really surprised if it doesn't get downvalued.

Personally I'm starting to think my best chance isn't to put in the best offer, but to snap a house up from another buyer who overextends themselves and can't cover the difference when the lender won't match the ridiculous offers being made.

Absolutely!  If we don't win the bidding war on this one, I am going to leave our offer on the table, as I am pretty sure it will be down valued.

lookstraightahead

verytired11 said:

Thrugelmir said:

In your previous thread this was your dream house. To secure it you'll need to give a knock out bid. Not worry about %'s.  

The first decision is whether to enter a bidding war; if we do decide to do so, the second decision is what constitutes a knock out bid.  I can afford a knock out bid as I am moving out of London.  And of course no one can tell me what bid would secure the property. However, it may be helpful to know the range that people are having to offer, in percentage terms.  But yes, it is helpful to frame it in the way that you do and to decide whether this is indeed our dream house. The house itself is nice and ticks boxes, but would be overpriced if not for the beautiful location.  So yes, we need to decide how important the setting is in deciding whether to pay over.

I think it will be very difficult to get these stats at the moment - whatever anyone bids still comes down to whether a property actually is sold and goes through at that price. You can't really put a value on what you should offer, because it's up to you (and of course the vendor, and more importantly the bank).
it sounds to me that you don't want to pay over the odds, which is understandable, so just offer what you would be happy with.
Have you looked at anything else?