It depends, if the short sale has been approved by the bank then that is a green light. However, most agents take a short sale listing and put it on the MLS. Once they get an offer they submit this offer to the bank with the current owners financial burden. The banks review this offer and the current owners financial situation. Depending on the bank/lender, this process could take months to over a year. After all this time, if the bank thinks the current owner isn't financially distressed they will not approve the short sale, and you will have waited that entire time with nothing to show for it. A lot of investors put in multiple offers on a lot of short sales, and just wait until they get approvals from the bank and then decide if they would like to purchase it.