How long does it take to get a contract signed on a bank owned house?

The realtor can not agree to the price. They can agree to what you offer only. They do not own the house and have authority to accept or decline offers. They are hoping to get it accepted, because you are giving them double commission w/o an agent of your own, but they can only hope. This could take 3 months, or 3 days, it really depends on the bank and how much of a loss you are expecting them to take.

It may take a while when dealing with the bank. They have a policy that they have to abide by. Some people have been waiting 3 months to hear from the bank.

That doesn't sound like a long time. Why did you have such a short time contract? I would call the bank direct and bypass the realtor if you don't have confidence in her.

Now you know why to don't buy a home from a lender. They are very slow to give you an answer. Move on and find another home. It is not your agents fault that the bank is slow. There is nothing he/she can do about it.

This isn't the Realtors fault. Loss mitigation departments are painfully slow to respond and get paperwork together. Lenders routinely ignore any deadlines you put in the contract and move at their pace. This is part of the downfall in working with REOs, buyers want to blame the Realtor, but there is really nothing we can do but wait with you.