The Portland and Yamhill county is flooded with properties that are listed as “short sale” . What does that term really mean? A short sale is a property that is in the process of being foreclosed by the bank. The seller still has the ability to negotiate on the terms of the sale, but the sale is not able to proceed until the bank signs off on the offer to purchase……the bank has to agree to take a loss on their investment in the property. Often a home owner has taken out more than one mortgage; they may have both a first loan and a second loan. If this is the case, both of those lenders have to agree to the sale…….the lender in first position may not actually have to take a loss, but maybe the lender in the second position has to take a loss. Or they may both have to agree to take a loss on their investment. In any case, if the bank has to become involved in the agreement to terms of the sale, that is called a short sale, and the bank is considered a 3rd party to the transaction.