Each property is manage by different Asset Management company and owned by different banks. We specialize in a lot of REO and we experience the good and the bad. The best thing is just to follow up every 3 days with a simple email or phone call. Don't rely on the listing agent to respond telling you were rejected when they have 20 offers to reply to.

The winning bid usually receive a Addendum or a Counter. At this point the best thing is to sign fast and get it ratified before they counter another offer (I've seen the bank done this first hand to one of our listings, ouch for the slow buyers ).
http://www.JacksonPhan.com - East Bay Realtor

No and often they don't respond in the time frame that is specified on the contract. It can take weeks for a REO and much longer for a short sale

Guess what...when dealing with a bank...there are no rules! Your agent can put a response date in the contract, but the lender generally will not honor it or even pay attention to it. I have had to wait weeks for an answer. And sometimes I am even lucky if I get an email or a response from the Listing Agent. And they will never submit the rejection on the original contract.
When you are submitting an offer on an REO, they make all of the rules.

And that is why it's so fun...NOT! Grrrr