I am trying to buy a house that is a short sale. It has a personal lien against it. The problem is the bank who owns the mortgage will not sell the house unless the lien is paid. Furthermore the bank will not agree to sell if there are any "outside" agreements between the buyer and seller during the time of sale (as in if I get the house I will pay off his lien). Basically it boils down to this: if I want the house I have to first pay off the lien since the seller is unable too. However, here's the catch- the bank won't agree to an offer until that happens. This means that I have to pay the lien and yet I get no guarantees of any kind that they will even entertain an offer from me much less sell me the house. Is this typical? Do all buyers assume this kind of risk for short sales with liens?