Short sales continue to be a big part of today’s housing market.  You may be hearing the terms short sale, subject to bank approval.  Short sales are becoming so prominent in today’s market that agents with note that it is NOT a short sale and not subject to bank approval.  If you are thinking about getting involved in a short sale be prepared for a long ride.  Sometimes if a buying comes it at the very end of negotiations the answer might not take very long.  If your offer is the first offer submitted to the bank it could take  up to five months to get an answer.  And it might get frustrating to be one of the first ones in with an offer and have to wait months for an answer, and the whole time there are more offers that come in, a lot of times driving up the price.