negotiating a pre foreclosure short sale

[Daniel Coleman]

I have been looking at a certain property for my pri. residence. It has been on the market almost a year and the price just keeps dropping lower. It was listed through an agent so we put it under contract and were set to close last week. Three days before closing the agent calls to tell me "oops" the prop is going to foreclosure sale Mon. morning. I told him to call the bank and hold off the auction. There is additional fees around $11,000 on top of what the outstanding mtg is. The sale was postponed but he is trying to neg. a short sale. Would it be possible for me to neg. with the bank even though the property is still listed through this agent? I know short sales are always a crap shoot, but I'm not trying to steal the property. I just want the best price and I don't want to finance someone's bad debt. My only other option is to wait till Dec. for the next sale. I have no experience at auctions. If anyone can advise me I would appreciate it much.