A "short sale" of real estate is: a. A sale in which the proceeds from the sale are less than the balance owed on the loan secured by the property sold. b. The sale of a house by someone who is not the owner; it is a way to profit from an anticipated decline in real estate prices. c. A sale that closes in less than 30 days. d. A sale in which the balance owed on the loan secured by the property sold is less than the proceeds from the sale

Answer: A. Sale in which the proceeds from the sale are less than the balance owed on the loan secured by the property sold.

Explanation: Term ''short sale'' in real estate stands for selling homes for less money than what's owed. In order for someone to begin this process, they need to get approval from the bank.

Example: A person buys a house for a certain amount of money and borrows some money from the bank to pay for the rest of it. After couple of years, everything goes downwards, a person loses his job and is forced to sell his home. But the price of the house at that time has lowered and he has to sell it for a less amount of money that he, two years prior, has paid for. He would still have certain amount of money to pay back to the lender. It's lenders choice to either approve or stop the selling of the house if he thinks that the house can sell for a higher price.