What is a short sale?

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from selling the property will fall short of the balance of debts secured by liens against the property, and the property owner cannot afford to repay the liens' full amounts and where the lien holders agree to release their lien on the real estate and accept less than the amount owed on the debt. Any unpaid balance owed to the creditors is known as a deficiency.Short sale agreements do not necessarily release borrowers from their obligations to repay any shortfalls on the loans, unless specifically agreed to between the parties. However, in California, legislation was passed to preclude deficiencies after a short sale is approved. The same is true of lenders on first loans and lenders on second loans — once the short sale is approved, no deficiencies are permitted after the short sale. 

Agreed with the experts

A market transaction in which an investor sells borrowed securities in anticipation of a price decline and is required to return an equal number of shares at some point in the future.

thank you all.....every answer of your's saying about good point.

AGREE WITH ALL OF EXPERTS 

A market transaction in which an investor sells borrowed securities in anticipation of a price decline and is required to return an equal number of shares at some point in the future.The payoff to selling short is the opposite of a long position.

A short seller will make money if the stock goes down in price, while a long position makes money when the stock goes up. The profit that the investor receives is equal to the value of the sold borrowed shares less the cost of repurchasing the borrowed shares.

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from selling the property will fall short of the balance of debts secured by liens against the property, and the property owner cannot afford to repay the liens' full amounts and where the lien holders agree to release their lien on the real estate and accept less than the amount owed on the debt.Any unpaid balance owed to the creditors is known as a deficiency. Short sale agreements do not necessarily release borrowers from their obligations to repay any shortfalls on the loans, unless specifically agreed to between the parties. However, in California, legislation was passed to preclude deficiencies after a short sale is approved. The same is true of lenders on first loans and lenders on second loans — once the short sale is approved, no deficiencies are permitted after the short sale. (SB931, SB458 - Calif. Code of Civil Procedure §580e).

A short sale is often used as an alternative to foreclosure because it mitigates additional fees and costs to both the creditor and borrower. Both often result in a negative credit report against the property owner. A similar procedure to a short sale in the UK is an Assisted Voluntary Sale (sometimes referred to as Assisted Voluntary Purchase)

Real estate industry data indicate that there were2.2 million short sales in the United States during the period of the subprime mortgage crisis up to mid-2013

Borrowing a security (or commodity futures contract) from a broker and selling it, with the understanding that it must later be bought back (hopefully at a lower price) and returned to the broker.

it is a temporary contract with limitations for the  sellers,borrowers and creditors

First sale

Then the collection later

And depends on the type of client and Msedkith

As well as the type of guarantees provided

Agree with most answers already provided.

It is a term usually used in 'Real Estate' where usually the property owner falls short off the debts against mortgage (In ability to pay) & mortgage holder (Banks or Financial Institution or a mere lender) agrees to remove the lein on the property. :-)