As to your question / issue:

It is generally not the MLS that is at fault, but the listing agent. Or, there may be other factors in play.

Bank owned properties generally do go under contract very quickly, especially in high demand markets. Savvy investors snap them up as soon as they hit the market, sometimes the same day if the investor has a sharp agent working for them and watching the new listings on a daily basis.

Also, even if there is an accepted offer on a lender owned property, it may be several days later before the special addenda that always accompany a lender’s acceptance are signed by the buyer and returned to the lender, and the MLS status is not changed until that happens.

Short sales, where the property is not yet be lender owned, but the lender must approve any short sale offers, are also notoriously difficult. There may be multiple offers accepted by the seller, but none of them is really a binding contract until the lender also approves it. That can take several weeks, during which time the MLS status will continue to be “Active”. During that time, the buyer also has the right to terminate the offer and move on to another property, and many buyers do just that. This is extremely frustrating for all involved.

Anecdotal evidence I have heard about from agents in some other markets is that some REO (lender owned) listing agents will tell buyer agents that there is an accepted offer when there really isn’t one, knowing that the chances are good that an unrepresented buyer may come directly to them, the listing agent, to make an offer, thereby doubling the listing agent’s commission on the deal. If that is happening in your area, it is not only unethical, but may also be illegal. But it is often difficult to prove, and more difficult to get anyone to go to the effort and expense to prosecute it.

You say that you are sending in offers. I never do that for a buyer client until I have called the listing agent to check on the status. If you are working with a buyer agent, that should be the first thing they do for you, before wasting anyone’s time on submitting an offer.