Can short sales be win-win?

[Joel NA]

Hello everyone and thanks in advance for looking at my question...

I've found a guy who says he represents a homehowner whose place is up for sherrif's sale in June. He's saying the homeowner owes 65K and that the bank will accept 40K (finders fee for this guy included). So this guy is trying to conduct a short sale, correct?

He bills himself as the buyers representative..."I'm helping my friend out..."

What's the feeling on this forum concerning purchasing short sale properties....seems like everyone wants to CONDUCT the short sale to make quick money? How many red flags go up when you hear this story? How would I approach MY banker with this deal? Finally, how flexible are banks on their short sale asking prices-- like can I offer considerably less?

I think the ARV will be somewhere around 75-80k and the place might need as little as 5k in repairs but I've been using 15k to be safe. I think we could rent it until it sells if it doesn't flip quickly. I'm a teacher so I'd try to get it moved by August...I don't think there's more than a month of work. My partner, who will look at it too, and I will do almost all the work (we've both got several projects under our belts and we already own rentals but not together).

I'd love to hear some opinions on the short sale aspect of this or anything else. I feel like I'm coming onto the scene too late for this to be profitable, yet the indicators that I usually use are telling me this is a good deal.

Thanks!