My daughter and son in law have put bids in on two different short sales. The one thing they were warned about is that short sales take a very long time (the *short* part is because the money paid is short of what is owed). One of the houses they wanted, they got sick of waiting on (over four months), the other house the owners ended up finding the money that would allow them to remain in their home. If your friends bank short sells her house and they do not get what is owed, it will impact her credit.