For as many years as I have been in this business I have yet to understand why they call it a "short sale".  I wrote an offer on a short sale 2 weeks ago.  The bank had already approved a purchase price of $350,000 (it was originally listed for $390,000 in December then reduced to $359,000) however it took the bank 8 weeks to approve the price.  In the meantime the original buyer's found something else.  Along comes yours truly with cash buyers and we write an offer, keep in mind the property is scheduled to go to sale on June 9th and now our offer is currently sitting on the desk of some who is out of town until next week! This condo has been in default since last September!!!!  If you looked at the photos of the unit when it was first listed it was picture perfect and now months later the entire unit is trashed and the owner lets her dogs do their business all over the place YUCK!  If the bank does not approve our offer, they will end up taking the property back and they will have to evict the previous owner and repair the damage to the unit and put it back on the market all of which could take months.  GO FIGURE!  For those of you that think a short sale is a good deal or the way to go, think again!