"Glad to be apart of this Dave. Thanks again for everything"

Ben, though I appreciate your kind words, they really aren't necessary. Let's reserve this space for hard hitting questions, &/or the distribution of information.  Your participation is thanks enough.

"Is there special training needed or is it just negotiating skills that are needed for the short sales?"

In my experience,  negotiation skills are certainly necessary when confronting a junior lienholder whose workout criteria may be more relaxed, but not as important when working with a first mortgagee.  Once short sale feasibility has been determined, there are only a few points open to negotiation in a short sale scenario. Workout parameters are etched in the stone of their mortgagee's set of workout criteria.  The essential component to successful transactions are in compliance to mortgagee's workout criteria, and in the manufacturing of factually compelling information its incorporation in the short sale proposal construct.

Since all preforeclosure negotiations are predicated on value..I rely heavily upon l,ocal real estate brokers for their insight into local market conditions, including all influential factors.    

An better informed broker and its staff can prequalify short sale candidates, and lay the foundation for successful transactions.,,, or know when to punt.