How long does a "Short Sale" take from contract to closing?

Normally from the uted contract it takes generally about 30-60 days to close a short sale. It's a big chain, first the agent needs to figure out if the servicer which is the bank is also the investor or not. For example if Wells Fargo is the bank and the note is with the investor who is Freddie Mac than Wells negotiator needs to contact Freddie Mac to and have this short sale approved than once the settlement amount is agreed by the investor on the loan comes back to the servicer, the bank do that they can start processing the closing. I have closed many short sales with many different banks and investors. This could be time consuming but once handled well by the agent through this navigation it's a piece of cake. It's all about negotiations, realtor needs to be well educated before even taking the short sale listing.
Let me know if you have any other particular question re your situation do contact me. You can reach me at 713-396-2066 or email me at AgentGuddi@gmail.com

Each short sale varies, it is dependent on the bank's approval as stated in another answer. It also varies if there is a second lien holder who also needs to approve the short sale. The last short sale transaction I had, had a second lien holder who was holding out for more money. We received an accepted contract in November, closing date in December, and we had to keep extending the first lien holder's approval each month; and the second lien holder dragged it out until the end of April; that's when we finally closed!

There are Short Sales that have approved by the lender for a specific net to them and Short Sales that have been approved as a Short Sale without an approved net and there are short sales that are not yet approved by the lender at all. The first is like a normal sale, the next is normal plus 1 to 3 months the last is forever( 3 to 12 months)