The answer depends upon which type of financing you wish to pursue. After completing a short sale as a seller, for example, VA and Conventional (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) mandate a two year wait. Another arm of the federal government, FHA, mandates three years.Non-conforming products such as that for jumbo and condo loans can be almost anything, depending upon the individual investor. From what we are seeing in the market though, non-conforming loan investors are requiring waiting periods of somewhat longer than that of the government sponsored loans. We have seen waiting requirements for non-conforming loans of from five to seven years. You may also expect higher than average down payment requirements.
To be on the safe side, short sale sellers should be prepared to face greater levels of credit scrutiny for a period of up to seven years after the successful completion of a short sale.