It would be nice to know the outcome of this question. If this is anything like a short sale elsewhere, offering that much below asking price is why it takes so long, if ever, to receive a response. List price should be close to what will sell it. How about an update on this? Please?

The time line will depend on the indivual bank and its representative. Sometimes it just depends on the bank representative and how quickly they work to get things done. Normal process take a couple of days at most. The typical time period in the Augusta area is 30 to 45 days tops to close. However that time frame is sometimes negotiated as well. I haven' see a lender or bank owned property sell for 50% of listed price in my area and I have worked with a lot of bank owned properties. They normally start at appraised price and drop a couple of thousand each month until it is sold.

great first answer. Fannie May owns the house? Must be unique to your area. Offering should be based on condition and market, as Buyer man says.

I was in the same boat and still closing on a Fannie Mae home.

"1. What is the time line from submitting an offer to receive an answer if an offer was accepted?"

For us it was between 2 to 4 days because don't know when Fannie Mae got the offer. There was another offer as well.

"2. What is the time line to close on a house once an offer has been accepted?"

It's supposed to 30 days in Georgia but I'm no pro in this business.

"3. I have been told to offer from 50% to 85% of the listed price. Is this accurate?"

Wow, our realtor told us 5-10% off on a well-maintained and clean house. We didn't buy an expensive house so the price couldn't drop much more especially when there were a lot of first time buyers looking for that $8K credit. We offered full list price and so did the other buyer but we won based on our VA loan. My uneducated guess is to reduce the price that much the house would have to be: grossly overpriced, a real fixer-upper or one desperate seller.