A short sale occurs when the proceeds of a real estate sale are insufficient to cover the mortgage or balance owned on the property. In a short sale, the bank agrees to take less than what is owed to them due to an economic or financial hardship on the part of the borrower.
This negotiation can take a long time to accomplish. In many cases it takes months to negotiate a short sale. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and energy in a short sale negotiation. If you need to move into a home quickly it might be best to exclude short sales from your list.
The foreclosure process is typically a bank or other secured creditor selling or repossessing a property after the owner has failed to comply with an agreement between the lender and borrower called a mortgage. In short, they stopped paying on the promissory note and the bank takes back the property.
When the foreclosure proceeding is complete, the lender can dispose of the property and keep the proceeds to pay off the mortgage and any legal costs.
