Learning about short sales

[Curtis Daniels]

I looked at a house that I saw was selling for $25,000 as mentioned by Zillow. My girlfriend wanted to know more about the house, so we drove by and took a look. The home had no agent's sign in the front yard. By our serendipitous luck, we found out that the back door was open. The home definitely looked like it needed improvements.

A few days later (today), I called the agent listed on Zillow, and she told me that there's a bunch of people asking about it and that the house is under contract. She told me that it was a short sale home. When I asked her what steps I should take, she told me to talk to a lender, get pre-approved, and then start looking at the house.

If you all could help me out, there's a non exclusive list of things I would want to know about shortales and this situtation.

1.) What really is a shortsale and why is the house under contract?

2.) What do you think about us getting pre-approved in this situation?

3.) I also wanted to ask her if I personally could buy the house with ALL CASH as is. Do you think I should call the agent back up about this? Do you think she would be more receptive to me?

Thanks
CJ Daniels