It seems to me this is Short Sale....pre- foreclosure . Bank owned is different
This short sale is owned by the seller at this point, this is contingent upon the bank approval of the lien
it is long process it depend if the loan has FIRST and SECOND it is very difficult unless the seller has valid reason to go for short sale. reasons. 1. Divorce 2, Death of family3.Lose his job, those are the vadid reason
if not do not expect this to closed.

It seems to me this is Short Sale....pre- foreclosure . Bank owned is different
This short sale is owned by the seller at this point, this is contingent upon the bank approval of the lien
it is long process it depend if the loan has FIRST and SECOND it is very difficult unless the seller has valid reason to go for short sale. reasons. 1. Divorce 2, Death of family3.Lose his job, those are the vadid reason
if not do not expect this to closed.

Jeff,

Every state is different...and going along with that, every bank and situation is different. I've had short sales that have closed in two months with a local bank. But then unfortunately, I have dealt with Chase and waited about five months before closing on the property. Short Sales and Foreclosures are real tricky...and nothing is guaranteed until that day of closing and the keys are handed over to you. I have had too many fall apart last minute to get my client's hopes up. I'm not trying to sound negative but the whole process can be overwhelming and frustrating. If you can hang in there, the reward of owning a home is wonderful! If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me. Kelly Keslinke, C21 Gold Properties 847-455-0607

Do you know if they have done a purchase contract BPO on the property yet? The lender is going to make sure that the purchase price is near fair market value. They are normally not going to let a property with a value of 200k go for 100k. You are just past the first hurdle -- getting them to accept that the owner is in distress. Now comes the second phase getting them to agree on a price. I have seen properties go to forclosure over a few thousand dollars difference in the offer price. Good luck and remember it has to make sense to the lender otherwise they won't do a short and you may never hear back from them on the purchase contract.

Put a shirt on !!! It is cold in Chicago !!

A short sale is NOT a bank owned property. Banks respond quicker when they own a property (usually within three business days ) Short sales can take up to 60 days all the way to never. .. The bank you are dealing with on the short sale is not the owner yet.

Short sale responses can be from never to a few weeks. The one short sale I bid on, we received an answer in two weeks that they took another persons offer. This last foreclosure I bid on that had just gone on the market, it took 4 days for the verbal response and an additional 3 days for the signed purchase agreement to get sent back to me. I'm in So. Cal and the market in my price range is full of foreclosures which might be the reason they respond faster. Good luck!

FORECLOSURE REALITY CHECK.... Seasoned investors who buy foreclosures know the REO manager at the bank and get "off market" deals. They never have to bid or find a place to learn what's available.

FOR ALL OTHERS: The only "sellers market" in america is the foreclosure market. Don't expect any deals from a foreclosure as the bidding process brings 20-30 people to bid on almost every deal. A deal that was already priced at market. For government foreclosed homes, by law, they have to be priced "at market".

The REO manager has a short list of "cash/close in 2 day buyers", they always get the first right to bid. Then they have to wait for the "public auction" Which drives up those prices. After a 30-60 day period. Then the REO picks the best bid. Sometimes, only sometimes does a REO manager take a property directly to a buyer he knows peronsally. Why should he, he has a bunch of people bidding and driving up the prices.

My REO manager friend likes to joke about all the "first timers" who continue to drive up the bid when they don't hear anything from the bank. Every time I see the "how come I haven't heard from the bank about accepting my foreclosure bid after 30+ days" on trulia, I have to let out a chuckle because he's so right. For those newbies, this is real. They know that when you don't hear from them that a large percentage of people drop a second or third offer higher than the previous one. **WARNING, YOU ARE BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF HERE**

You want a deal on a property right, everyone wants that.... So the moral of this story is:
1. the 60 days you have to wait to hear from a REO, you could have made 2 or 3 better deals with a property that has been on the market for a long period of time. Any realtor can help you drop a crazy offer.
2. You are attempting to make a deal in a house covered in a cloud of bad energy, don't be surprised when it rubs off. Personally I stay away from these for this reason entirely.
3. One way to get a deal is dropping a hand written note on ANY house in a neighborhood you want to buy that says "my girlfriend and I want to buy a house in this neighborhood and yours looks cute from the outside. Do you know anyone that is looking to sell?" I always get responses, better prices and positive energy into the home.

Jeff, Patience, Patience, patience. That is the name of the game with bank owned properties. If you are lucky things will move right along now that they are considering offers.
Question: Did you lose your shirt in a previous real estate transaction? Just kidding!