You never planned for it to happen this way. All the numbers made sense. The costs were calculated. You were on schedule with a game plan to live-out your piece of the American dream. Then it happens — foreclosure. Now that you’ve hit bottom, what do you do?

Foreclosure has become the new ‘F’ word. Record foreclosures abound all over the country. Whether small town or bustling metropolis, the real estate crises has become the ‘surreal estate crash’ with plunging market values that seem fictional. Las Vegas ranks among the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest foreclosure rates. While the pipeline of foreclosures has somewhat narrowed in stream, Las Vegans continue to see mud out the other end. But there is rest for the weary, or so it seems — the short sale.

Short sales, as implied, create an out for those short on time, short on money, and short on options. In essence, the homeowner in foreclosure gets permission from the lender to sell the home ‘short’ of the market value and outstanding arrears. Short sales can be preemptive and face-saving for all parties.

Ideally, the lender unloads a potentially huge liability and some recovery without further risk or speculation over any would-be ‘market recovery’. The homeowner, too, realizes some mitigating relief that while not preferred, still relieving. Again, ‘ideal’ is operative here.

The lender still has to approve the sale, agree to ‘write-off’ any remaining balance, and is not on your clock. Foreclosures in Las Vegas are almost a ‘turn-key’ process favoring lenders. Common ground is a good starting point for short sale negotiation and, ostensibly, what all have in common is desired relief from a bad investment. At a minimum, one needs an experienced professional to weather foreclosure storms. Otherwise, homeowners in the foreclosure hi-waters may find short sales are no better than short pants.