foreclosure/ short sale

[Amanda M Laird]

There is a beautiful home thats been in the foreclosure process for years.  I called the title company and got the notice of default as well as some other information.  They owe back taxes, and there are other liens on the property.  There are for sale signs out front showing its listed with a local realtor.   I called my realtor to find out more information about it, but she directed me to the listing agent to work with since it was a conflict of interest since her best friend was one of the lien holders.

When I called about it, the listing agent said that they are waiting for it to go into a short sale and that they already have a buyer for it.

Does this mean nobody else can bid on it?  Has anybody dealt with a similar situation and have some answers?