Scarlet,

First, the seller's lender really doesn't care about how much money you are putting down. Only that your financing is solid and they don't even really look too far into that. The only real way of speeding up the banks response time is to have someone that knows what their doing negotiating with the lender. Many people get into short sales without knowing really how to handle them and they just end up waiting and waiting. There are very few Realtors, attorney's and/or negotiators out there that are good and successful and negotiating short sales. The only buyer that has an advantage over another buyer is to be higher in price than anyone else, and to be non-contingent. Most banks will not even look at your short sale request even if you are only contingent on the close of your real estate. The bank can take as long as they want to respond. There are no rules against them in taking their time. They will most likely not have the house appraised, but they will have a BPO (Broker's Price Opinion) done and 9 out of 10 times, nobody but the bank will ever find out what that amount is. Your Realtor should be able to do the same thing for you and give you a rough idea though. It most cases the bank is going to want to NET 85% of that amount after they take out Real Estate commissions, taxes, attorney's, closing costs, ect. If you're taking a mortgage, you'll have to have an appraisal done then and you'll get an exact figure. Please feel free to go through my web site for more info and call anytime if you would like to discuss. I would be glad to give you any help or pointers I can.

Tim Ireland
RE/MAX All Properties
(815) 215-4018