The first thing is that most short sales will require that all parties sign off on the transaction being an arms length transaction. By signing this document all parties are implying that the sale is not being made to family or friends.
People do lie though.
Second off, there is still a fair amount of straddling going on. A straddle is a middle man or investor that will purchase the home for cash and while the short sale is still going, will essentially try to resell the home. So he goes in with a super low offer with cash and gets his offer into the lender. Usually they will work directly with the listing agent as well. The property will then continued to be on the market as active as well or sometimes they will pull it off and mark it as contingent. This does not happen as much as it used to but it does happen.
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Now as far as you submitting offers but they get taken before you have a chance to act, you should be contacting the listing broker to find out some details. What if the other offer is less then yours but it is a all cash deal? I know alot of shenanigans go on but maybe finding out as much factual information about the situation may prove beneficial.
The bottom line is that homes priced aggressively go fast and we are coming into the spring. People are concerned about interest rates moving as they have already gone up about .75 of a point in the last 3 months.
