Q. How long will I have to wait after a short sale before I can get another mortgage and buy another home?

A. New guidelines from the Federal National Mortgage Association state that your short sale must be two years old before it will accept an application for a new mortgage. The two-year period is known as "seasoning."

Fannie Mae, as the association is more commonly called, is a government-owned agency that doesn't make loans directly to individuals. But it buys a huge proportion of the home loans made by banks and mortgage companies. As a result, lenders almost always make sure applications conform to Fannie Mae's rules and regulations before approving a loan.

You must also have re-established good credit during this time. A short sale could take anywhere from 100 to 300 points off your credit score.

It takes time to rebuild your credit by paying all your bills on time and keeping the amount of debt that you have as low possible. But it can be done.