Foreclosures & short sales....What's the difference?

I am finding that many prospective buyers may not understand the difference between a bank owned foreclosure & a short sale, so I thought I would explain. When a property has gone through the foreclosure process and the bank ends up taking the property back it is almost always at a loss for them (not to mention the thousands of dollars the foreclosure process costs them). The payoff is an important bit of info in "Short Sale" situations because bank will usually accept a certain percentage of what's actually owed on the property (this becomes much more complicated when there is more than one mortgage). The general public doesn't seem to understand the difference in a "foreclosure" & a "short sale". A short sale is a last ditch effort by the homeowner (seller) to avoid a foreclosure by their lender. In a short sale the homeowner will accept an offer with the contingency that the lender will approve their net amount (No proceeds go to the homeowner at all but they come to the closing and sign all docs because they are still technically the property owners). I know that many prospective buyers look at foreclosures and short sales as great opportunities (and they are), but it's very important to hire a professional full-time Realtor as a Buyer Agent (representing & advising you) in order to have the best negotiating skills as well as market knowledge working in your favor. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Thanks!