What's the difference between a Short Sale Listing and a Foreclosure Listing? Put simply, it's the auction. Some distressed homeowners do nothing and their home is auctioned on the courthouse steps after foreclosure. In most courthouse auctions, the mortgage is too high for an investor to be interested so it’s essentially bought back by the bank who foreclosed in the first place. This represents a typical foreclosure home. The sellers are then forced out of their home by eviction so they don’t usually go quietly and they’re not too careful as they move out their furniture. The bank has to spend thousands on obtaining and selling the foreclosure listings in Charlotte (or elsewhere) so they try to sell for as much as the market will bear. In contrast, a pre-foreclosure or Short Sale listing happens before the auction, before the foreclosure, and most importantly, at the seller’s request. Because the seller plays an integral role in the sale of their home, they continue to maintain the property up until the last minute. Of course, this means that the buyer doesn’t usually have to do as many repairs as they would with a traditional foreclosure. A pre-foreclosure short sale is cheaper for the bank, too. Because they save on foreclosure fees, a Short sell can sometimes be purchased for 10-15% less than a comparable foreclosure.