As tough as it is in MM its still possible to win. Just put a buyer into escrow on a short sale house there. Got it $20K below asking which is also at least $40K less than anything like it has sold in 6 months. It was listed by an agent most buyers and agents dont want to deal with. It had been sitting on the market for 30+ days and was ripe for the taking. I looked at the loan situation and could tell it would be a quick and easy short sale approval for an under market price. From offer to written short sale approval it look just over 60 days. Its not easy but it can be done. It is getting harder every day though.