Is this normal when making an offer on House?

Oh I bet that’s a relief. Hopefully it all goes well 💐

I hope this is your first offer, and not the revised “ we want you to pay our fees and expenses “ expectation. Good luck anyway. They sound like idiots , I hope they have finished messing you about.

That's good news @offerquery Hope it all goes smoothly now

Congratulations - but have a plan B - storage options short term lets just in case another house/rental- so if it does drag out so you don't lose your buyers - fingers crossed they've got it out their systems and they get on with the process now.

Glad to hear that your offer has been accepted, and hope that all goes through smoothly.

Congratulations @offerquery on getting your offer accepted & hope things progress smoothly now

Good luck. Hope it all goes through.

But I still think you'd be wise to walk away from these vendors. They've got trouble written all over them!

@offerquery Don't apologise for being naive. If you haven't been through this before, it's very sensible to ask. Once you've appointed a solicitor, the agent will send them a memorandum of sale with details of the address, names, agreed price etc. Your solicitor will apply for searches on the property and send them to you. Vendors will fill out the fixtures and fittings form and the property questionnaire. Make sure you look through the answers with a fine tooth comb and raise any queries you have with your solicitor. So there may be a couple of back and forth over queries. If your solicitor is good they should also be flagging any obvious questions. You also book a survey and, if any concerns arise, that's when you may want to either ask more questions, apply for more specialist surveys eg damp or drains and, if something worrying pops up, potentially renegotiate the price.

@offerquery in that case they are unreliable at best. Greedy and in no rush at worst. Walk away. Tell them you’re out.

My completion date on my house has been extended by 4 weeks which has given me a little more time.

Apologies, I meant to quote this, Where exactly are you up to with your own sale and what is the position with your own buyers? You need to consider this (and the whole chain) as it's hugely relevant to your potential vendors.

The huge disparity in your affordability between the two houses is also very odd. What exactly is your AIP?

You sound very naive about the process considering you're already an owner?

Apologies if I have missed it - but have you actually exchanged on your own house, as it seems you are still living it in your own house but say you can move ASAP? And if so, what is the situation with your own buyer? This all seems focused on your onward purchase but there is very little info on your own precise circumstances, and your proceedability (is that a word?) is hugely relevant to your future vendors.

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/how-long-does-conveyancing-take/#:~:text=Conveyancing%20typically%20takes%2012%2D16,in%20getting%20property%20searches%20back.

How long does conveyancing take?Conveyancing typically takes 12-16 weeks. However, this duration can vary based on factors like if the survey reveals problems or there’s a delay in getting property searches back.

This has a rough timeline attached to each bit.

https://www.ommlaw.co.uk/conveyancing/conveyancing-process-for-buying-or-selling/

Goes through the steps in English/Welsh system - no idea why it tales so long one of our estate agents said it used to be quicker but seems to have lengthen over his career even without long chains.

Yes, English aren’t used to O/O as much as Scotland.
O/O is a staring point. Eg. When I have sold in Scotland I have had O/O of 20% for my last house = >£60k and for a one bedroom flat I once got 60% over offer > 80k.
what determines the offer is how many people are also bidding and what the market value for the area currently is.
the EA should guide you. But to me, yes O/O is always a %age over. Not asking value.
I now live in England so I’ve dealt with both systems. English is terrible.
If this hadn’t been an O/O I would have suggested legal proceeding against them since you would have offered asking value and they have incurred you wasted costs and time and emotional distress etc. but since you haven’t offered as they have asked then you can’t do that.

Surveyor will indicate any issues, you can arrange for a builder or whatever to get a quote for the likely cost of repairs - you then negotiate price

The may say ‘new boiler’ needed working the next 12 months to roof needs urgert attention - or damp in the cellar

I agree with everyone else. If this is their behaviour now, can you imagine how they will behave through the conveyancing procedure? They obviously aren't in a rush to sell either so have no incentive to be 'good' vendors. For your own sanity, I'd walk away.

Nothing about this is normal - I agree with MasterOfCake they'd not drop for anything found on survey and as I said previously likely delay on slightest thing and likely want to leave everything rather than clear house and try and charge you for the privilege.

If they wanted a higher offer I think they could have got back to you quickly and indicated that - that what our seller at our current house did though we were under their selling price - and the house hadn't been on very long at that point - so we were fine to up the offer.

If you don't like the other house you have offered on they do a lot of looking very quickly as the extra time you now have will soon go - our first house buy took 9 weeks seller was going into rented and we were first time buyers - no chain at all.

You have a seller waiting 17 days to reject an offer they are in no rush to sell - and their reasons shouldn't matter to you.

@offerquery offers over indicates that a sellers hopes to achieve at least the stated price.

In a buoyant market people will often offer over that amount as they anticipate a lot of interest in the property.

In the stagnant market we have now, people will be more likely to offer the exact amount, or slightly less. I think you did the right thing in offering the “offers from” amount. They should have accepted it as it was the best proceedable offer they got.

I expect their EA will be privately advising them to accept your offer though they won’t admit that to you.

They’re CF. They know you want the house so think they can push their luck and get more money out of you.

If any issues come up during the survey, I doubt they’ll consider any reduction.