Best and Final Offer Strategy and Tactics in NYC

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What are some best and final offer tactics that home buyers can employ in NYC’s heated property market? What best and final offer strategy should home sellers in New York City utilize to maximize their sale price? Learn more in the definitive guide to the house bidding process and house bidding war rules in New York!

What Is a Best and Final Offer in NYC?

A best and final offer is an opportunity for an interested buyer of a NYC property to submit their highest, last and best offer to purchase the property by a certain deadline.

A best and final offer is typically requested by the home seller when they have received multiple offers. A seller or the seller’s agent will usually give all interested buyers at least a few days advance notice before the deadline for the best and final offer.

A best and final offer is typically submitted through email, though some listing agents may request that you also email a standard REBNY Submit Offer Form. If you’ve previously submitted an offer, it may be wise to re-submit your entire offer including any attachments such as your REBNY Financial Statement and mortgage pre-approval letter.

However, many listing agents will be alright with just a simple email confirming the terms of your full and final offer if they already have your offer documentation.

Are you a first time home buyer in NYC? Make sure to learn the step by step home buying process first by reading our complete guide on how to buy an apartment in NYC.

Best and Final Offer Tactics for Buyers

A great buyer’s agent will gather as much intelligence about the competitive situation as possible in advance of the best and final offer. A seasoned buyer’s broker will call the listing agent and attempt to gather as much information as possible about the seller’s motivations as well as the number of other buyers and offers.

However, be warned that anything the seller’s broker says has to be taken with a grain of salt.

There is no way to verify the truth of anything the seller’s broker says, especially when representations are made verbally. A listing that supposedly has “close to 10 offers” could in reality mean 9, 6 or even 3 offers. There are no rules in NYC real estate.

Pro Tip: You’ll want a buyer’s agent who will be able to read the voice tone and body language of the listing agent. Sometimes, a seasoned buyer’s broker will be able to tell when a listing agent is lying.

The buyer and his or her agent will have to pair this information with other, more neutral indications of interest in the property.
For example, the buyer can compare the number of people who showed up at the last open house with the number of people who have saved the listing on various property search websites. Perhaps the buyer’s agent can even count the number of people who have signed in at the open house.

This will give you an indication of how popular a property truly is. For example, if 200 people saved a particular listing on just one property search website alone, then the listing agent probably isn’t lying when he or she claims there are 5 offers outstanding. If however only 10 people have saved the listing, then you might raise your eyebrows if the listing agent claims that they already have multiple offers.

You can also check the sanity of your full and final offer by looking at the comparable sales (“comps”) in the building and surrounding neighborhood.

It’s easy to do so on most property search portals, many of whom pull recorded sale data directly from ACRIS (i.e. public records). The most relevant comps will be units of the same line and floor plan as your target apartment.

Other lines that can be equally relevant are ones that have a similar or mirror layout as your target apartment, or even other units that are larger or smaller but have the same number of bedrooms.

Before your submit the final offer, do one last sanity check of the neighborhood price per square foot (PPSF) averages. Many real estate search websites such as StreetEasy will have free “generate comp report” tools you can easily use.

Want help? Check out our home pricing guide for FSBO sellers which will be equally useful for buyers about to participate in a best and final offer process.

Don’t have time to figure out how to do a comp report by yourself? Work with one of our veteran buyer’s brokers who will guide you through the best and final offer process and discreetly provide you with a NYC broker commission rebate at close! Save money without risking your deal!

Hauseit LLC, Licensed Real Estate Broker
Tel: (888) 494-8258 | https://www.hauseit.com
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