In my area 8-012 weeks. Do you have an out in your contract in the event you find another property that you want to consider? If not, then you will either need to wait ifor the bank to reply or withdraw your offer.

All sales are ratified by a seller and a buyer. It is possible the seller does not want to ratify till the bank approves. It sounds like you need representation. You certainly want to consider consulting a real estate attorney or an experienced Realtor. A buyer can submit a written withdrawal if an offer has not yet been accepted. Three weeks is not unusual for a response, the banks are overwhelmed and are processing thousands of cases and most companies are working nationwide. When it is approved, they
will want you to act quickly so you should be working toward removing all contingencies along the way. Make sure your financing is solid. You can find a real estate attorney by asking Realtors, the phone book, or Prince William Association of Realtors may have some affiliate members which can provide legal advice.

If it's a short-sale, the average time it takes the bank/lender to respond is 60 to 90 days. Sometimes, it takes up 4, 5 or even 6 months. On a good day, it'll take 30 to 45 days (rare). And the chance of approvale is historically less than 50 percent. So you may wait several months only to be told "no" and be back at square one.

If you're working on any kind of a deadline, you should not be focusing on short-sales. You should be focusing on foreclosure/bank-owned properties or traditional resales. Bank-owned properties take about a few days to two weeks to get a response and traditional resales take a day to a few days.

Btw...you are free to continue looking at other properties. If you run across another one you want to write an offer on, you can always withdraw your other offer as long as it's not been ratified. Your agent should not have any problem doing this as it's totally legal, ethical and in your best interest.

Countrywides approval process is backed upabout 2-3 months for thier review period. Its normal for a long timeframe and will vary bank to bank. As a buyers agent, I ask sellers agents to stop marketing the property and to put it under contract so I know that my client has the first right to buy it.

Short sales can take several weeks meaning anywhere from 4 weeks until even 8, 9 or 10 weeks to receive any type of answer from the bank and this might not even be the answer you were looking for.

Banks want more than one offer on a property and are willing to wait. There are many layers of decision makers plus bank procedures that have to be followed. For a short sale situation it is a long process with little information in the meantime and there are no guarantees.

You had a legal question and I am not an attorney. Locate a real estate attorney and they will be able to consult with you further.

I would expect 4-8 weeks for an answer - and keep in mind; unless you offered full price - you may very well wait that long just to get a counter-offer from the bank.
Short Sales are not for those in a hurry. It seems they take longer and longer...
Sadly the system - in place to help sellers in real trouble - seems broken. So many banks are simply overwhelmed and cannot process the offers in a timely fashion.
Good Luck.

I've seen a couple of instances that took up to two months. The shortest I have seen was 4 weeks in West Central Florida. When putting an offer on a short sale, many Banks will hold on to the offer because they are waiting for other offers to come in at a higher price. It can be very frustrating for buyers, especially if you have a large sum of money in escrow. Don't be surprised if it also takes a couple of weeks to receive your escrow money back from the bank in the event that your offer is not accepted. Good luck! I hope you get the house.