Best and final - but seemed to be no other interest

FTBlondon678

Looking for advice on BAFO - have read other threads but this seems to be a slightly different situation. 

Property on the market with an asking price range of £25k (e.g 300k-325k).  Been on the market for 6 weeks (which locally is a long time), we viewed it twice and over the weekend put in an offer for 10% below the bottom of the asking price range.  

Very limited info from the EA- we think there has only been one other second viewing, and before this weekend they had not had any other offers.

Based on the above and the fact that we’re chain-free we felt our first bid was low but not outrageously so, and a good place to start a negotiation (FTB, 90& LTV, MIP)

But agent has come back today with no feedback other than to say ‘lots of interest so going to best and final’.  Seems a bit suspicious to us - we can’t rule out a flurry of last min interest, but would have thought if someone else had offered higher or within the asking price range then the vendor would have just accepted that offer over ours or the EA would have told us to push our bid up into that range?

Any advice/insight as to why EA has gone straight to Best and Final?  Seems to usually happen when there are lots of other high offers or demand, which just doesn't seem to be the case here (though we are in London in quite a quick-moving market).

jeaniemsm

Hi

Did you go in at 270k?

Which is a bit low considering the range they were looking for was 300-325k.

It might be that they didn't want the hassle of the back and forth negotiations and just wanted your best and final.

Not sure where in London but that price mark is fairly on the cheaper end for London so there may have been a flurry of interest at the last moments.

Just submit your actual best and final, no point in trying to figure out why they've gone to best and final.

Good luck

moneysavinghero

Is it a house or a flat? If it's a house maybe it's genuine. If it's an unwanted flat it could be EA games to get you to offer more.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter. You need to make your last and final bid. A bid that is not so low that you regret it if you miss out. If you honestly think you are the only party interested then stick with your original offer. 

searchlight123

so you've offered £270k (10% below lowest price range) and you think the EA may be fibbing about a flurry of interest? Not sure why they would do that, they are just interested in a quick and hassle free sale / commission. if you still feel that's the case then submit your final offer at the same level (£270k), but in a buoyant market don't be surprised if you miss out.

Sunsaru

FTBlondon678 said:

Looking for advice on BAFO - have read other threads but this seems to be a slightly different situation. 

Property on the market with an asking price range of £25k (e.g 300k-325k).  Been on the market for 6 weeks (which locally is a long time), we viewed it twice and over the weekend put in an offer for 10% below the bottom of the asking price range.  

Very limited info from the EA- we think there has only been one other second viewing, and before this weekend they had not had any other offers.

Based on the above and the fact that we’re chain-free we felt our first bid was low but not outrageously so, and a good place to start a negotiation (FTB, 90& LTV, MIP)

But agent has come back today with no feedback other than to say ‘lots of interest so going to best and final’.  Seems a bit suspicious to us - we can’t rule out a flurry of last min interest, but would have thought if someone else had offered higher or within the asking price range then the vendor would have just accepted that offer over ours or the EA would have told us to push our bid up into that range?

Any advice/insight as to why EA has gone straight to Best and Final?  Seems to usually happen when there are lots of other high offers or demand, which just doesn't seem to be the case here (though we are in London in quite a quick-moving market).

Why? Because it has.
If you want to go slightly deeper then expect about 15 different answers that may or may not be close to the truth, a truth which you may never actually know.
All you can do is play the game. Put in a bid, cross all your crossable bits and good luck!

eddddy

It could be that the EA is choosing his words carefully.

For example, the seller has rejected your offer, so the EA is trying to encourage you to offer more by asking for your "best and final offer".

It would be illegal for an EA to lie about the existence of other offers, but saying "lots of interest so going to best and final" isn't saying there are other offers. Yours might still be the only offer.

(I recall an EA phoning back and asking for a buyer's 'best and final offer' when the buyer essentially admitted that they were making an initial offer, and could go higher - which was a very daft thing for the buyer to say to the EA!)

If you want to investigate more deeply, you could ask "Have any other offers been made?" - but they might fob you off by saying they can't tell you.

[Deleted User]

How do you know there hasn't been any other viewings? Just because it hasn't sold in the 6 weeks its been listed doesn't necessarily mean theres been no interest. 

It could be that the vendors have just been holding off on accepting an offer till now in the hope that someone will come in at or close to the maximum of 325. 

Your offer of 270 seems a bit optimistic to be honest. A guide price of 300-325 to me suggests that the minimum they'll accept is 300, so you'll need to get much closer to that to be even considered seriously, let alone accepted. 

Of course if you don't think the house is worth that much, then by all means stick to your original offer, but be prepared for the likelihood of it being refused. 

FTB and MIP's are all good and well but not that much so that they'll knock off multiple 10's of thousands off for you! 

verytired11

Having just been through a best and final situation I can totally understand your caution and suspicion.  We viewed the property on the first day of viewings, put in an offer the following day and it went to best and final the day after that.  We were told that there was one other offer 'much higher' than ours, and so when we went to best and final i put in a very high offer (over asking price) to secure it as it was our dream house and i didn't want to lose out.  But I did wonder why it was going to best and final before they had even finished the viewings and why they would need to do best and final if there was only one other offer (surely they were not so lazy?).  In the end you have to be comfortable living with whatever you offer, whether the agent is playing games or not (which you will never find out).  Through the process I realised that i would rather pay too much than offer too little and lose out and now, even a few days later, the extra i paid seems minimal. I do believe that I may have been played by the agent, but on the other hand, the vendor might have completed all the remaining viewings and someone might have bid higher at that point. Since I am planning on living in the property for a long time and have very specific requirements I really wanted to secure this property and hopefully will get my money back at some point.  I agree with others that you should ask if there are other offers and also ask whether there is any explanation for why it has been on the market without an offer for so long.  You could also ask if the vendor has a counter offer.

billy2shots

Also remember folks, you don't have to increase your offer. 

If you're confident that it's an EA trick then don't increase your offer. 

The question is how confident are you?