What Is a Short Sale?
Simply put, a short sale occurs in a situation when a home owner's debt on the property is greater than the amount for which the property can be sold. This means the lenders are willing to accept less than the total amount due. Here's an example: Assume a homeowner has an unpaid loan balance of $120,000, but the property will only sell for $100,000. The lender accepts that $100,000 as full payment, which is obviously "short" of the full $120,000 payment.
Since lenders aren't in business to lose money, you can imagine that they're reluctant to do short sales and will often only do them as a last resort. It can make more financial sense for them to go through with a foreclosure.
