A short sale is defined as a transaction where title transfers, where the sales price is insufficient to pay the total of all liens and costs of sale, and where the seller does not bring sufficient liquid assets to the closing to cure all deficiencies. Short sale values are typically sold at a lesser value than average market value (if short sales are not typical market value), meaning the partner is taking a loss in sale value from. This typically means the seller's principal is greater than sales price or (current market value), providing the partner with a negative balance on property sale. Short sales are done to avoid the seller/partner going through a foreclosure process.