Does a short sale HAVE to be listed first?

[David T.]

In all the short sales I have been involved with, the bank required the property to be listed with a realtor on the MLS. In this case, I am looking about getting involved as a buyer of a property in foreclosure as my new personal residence. I understand why the bank would want to do this, but I don't want to spend all this time getting authorizations and talking to the bank and seller only to find out that the bank requires the seller to list it and then someone else can swoop in and steal my deal. The bank is HSBC and servicer is Caliber Home Loans. Is there any chance that they will NOT require it to be listed? Thanks in advance.