'best and final' the day after first open house

Why not, if there's an acceptable offer on the place?

We saw our now-apartment at the first open house, which was packed (60+ parties). We met with the broker after the last party had left, made an offer the next morning, and gave the seller 24 hours to respond. Given the interest in the apartment, we did not want our bid to be shopped.

Two other parties did bid (I believe this; I confirmed it through multiple sources), and one more was supposed to be submitting a bid. When 24 hours elapsed, the seller asked for more time to review the bids that had come in. We told him he could sleep on it, but we wanted an answer by 9 a.m. I imagine, if the broker did his job, that the other bidders were asked for a best and final about 36 hours after the first open house.

Why not? Especially in this market...

@Squid......because although the broker wants a nice fast commission check.....its not going to be the best offer for the vendor.

When I sell a property I want the purchaser to gulp and go hmmm am I over paying here.....that's when you know the vendor got the highest offer.

Buyers ready to pull the trigger on an appropriately priced property show up the first 20 minutes of the first OH. They bid within 1-3 days. If you didn't get one of them you probably priced wrong or the weather is abysmal.

Falcon, it's not like there aren't properties that recently set on the market for 3-4-5 weeks and finally got an offer at the listed price. I think by "appropriately priced" you mean good value = underpriced - ?; and in this case you are right. NYC is an incredibly efficient market with very savvy buyers. Any great deal will be snapped up immediately, or a bidding war will ensue..