How Long Does it Take Banks to Respond to an Offer?

When it comes to REOs (or bank owned properties) the banks are much speedier than when responding in a short sale. The reason being, the bank is the actual seller in this situation and they have set the price themselves. REOs work much like standard sales with more normal timeframes. With that being said, it may take a little longer to hear a response only because you are dealing with bank employees with 9-5 hours. But it shouldn’t take more than a week or two at worst case scenario. Usually they respond relatively quickly. The one thing to keep in mind is that sometimes banks respond verbally. They don’t sign any paperwork until all terms are agreed on and at the very end the bank rep puts ink to paper. Although it’s not the bbest case scenario, you don’t really have a choice and have to move forward in good faith during negotiations. Also, the bank will usually add all their own boiler plate addedums for you to sign. They will not negotiate on these points. Pay extra special attention to these addendums because they quite often change timeframes and other terms in the contract.