What are the consequences of a shortsale, bankruptcy or forclosure?

More and more these days I have clients asking me, "what happens to me if I decide to sell my home short?" That is, they owe more than their home is worth and they need or want to sell. Well, there are some heavy duty consequences and they include not being able to finance a home again for a while. But how long? Here is a guide to how different derogatory items such as short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy affect you for different types of loans such as FHA, VA, and Conventional. There are exceptions to some of these rules so, please reach out to me if you have questions about how all this works.