In the US you can sell a house quickly if you can list it at an attractive price. I did it once - I had to start a new job far away in a relatively short perio

In the US you can sell a house quickly if you can list it at an attractive price. I did it once - I had to start a new job far away in a relatively short period of time, so I sold my house in 15 days, including escrow. It probably cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of 6% of the total value. But to do that you need equity. In a short sale or a foreclosure you're leaving the house without any money, which "up in smoke" seems to describe.