Top 10 Real Estate Predictions for 2010

For many years, sellers who completed a short sale were penalized in the same way that those who went through foreclosure were restricted from buying another home. In 2008, Fannie Mae began to realize that sellers who completed a short sale deserved to be rewarded for their efforts over those who elected foreclosure and changed its guidelines to allow a short sale seller to buy again after 2 years had passed. For FHA, the seasoning period is 3 years.

I predict that FHA will allow short sale sellers who were current on their mortgages to buy again immediately in 2010 by obtaining an FHA loan. After all, those sellers proved several important points to banks. First, they were never in default and paid their mortgage payments in a timely manner. Second, they sold their homes instead of walking away. These sellers should not be prevented from buying another home, and FHA will make that happen, providing FICO scores are at an acceptable level (probably above 620).

_{At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.}