Hi Daniel,
The short answer would be that a foreclosure is much faster, the question is if you have done all of your homework in order to make it faster.
You want to be sure that you know what you are purchasing.
Is the home empty or are you going to have to entice the occupants out?
Do you have the cash ready? Cash will be due soon after (a portion of it at the auction)
Is the property free of liens? This is your responsibility to find out.

As with short sales, they can be quick or yes, take forever. Banks are having to adapt to the market in the same fashion that we are with the overload of foreclosures. So take a deep breath and get ready to be patient : )

Daniel - the post referenced below may be of some assistance to you. Many consumers are thrown by the term "short sale"... in reality, it is "long sale" in most cases....

Whatever you do, please make sure you have a buyers agent working with you. It is not the kind of market to do without! This is only one of a million questions your agent could answer, and there are other things you will not think of to ask beforehand.

I would agree with Lora. It will also depend on which type of mortgage company is handling the short sale. It is my understanding that the larger companies have such a large volume that one single person is assigned to 400 cases. This is the main reason the short sales can take much longer. Both however will depend on how high or low the offer is on the property. Good luck.

It generally takes longer to close on a short sale. Foreclosures can be closed within 2 weeks as long as all of the title work is together. It is much faster if you use cash for the transaction. If you are using cash, you do not have to wait on the bank/loan officer to get all the paperwork together and sent in to the title company. Hope this answers your questions! Let me know if you need any other help I have plenty of experience in dealing with foreclosures.