When a defaulting home owner's lender accepts a lesser amount of compensation against a mortgaged real estate and makes a sale, he just entered a short sale. A short sale is one that falls 'short' of the actual value of the property. A foreclosure, on the other hand, involves a legal binding denying the defaulter the right to redeem the mortgage. The proceeds generated on the short sale are less than the actual value of the estate. In a foreclosure, the real estate is simply reposed if the homeowner is unable to abide by the payments. The processed both involved certain difficulties in its implementation. Accordingly, the short sale is considered a better alternative to foreclosure.