Short sale after signed contract

[Shon I.]

I am trying to buy a house in SC as a primary residence. I had a ratified contract with the seller through my realtor but the seller after the fact decided the house had to go to short sale. It has been 4 months and our offer has not been accepted by the sellers bank or the investor who owns the paper for the loan. Our offer is 40,000 off from the banks counter which was based on a 6 month old appraisal that was too high. Our bank had an appraisal done that is in line with our offer so we feel our offer is a good one.

All communication is going through my realtor to the seller's realtor then to a short sale representative (The seller has hired a representative to put together the short sale package) then to the servicing bank then to the investing bank who owns the paper for the loan. Is this normal?
Can I cut out some of these layers to insure clear communication?
How?
I am being represented by a traditional realtor who has little experience with short sales. Do they need certain special skills to complete this transaction?
Thanks for your help. We love the house we just wish they would let us buy it.