Well we have been renting for the past 3 months after selling our house in Upland, CA. After non-stop searching for a new house we found the perfect one, large lot, pool, private yard, beautiful house in great shape but it's a short sale. Our offer got verbally accepted by the bank and we negotiated some termite work (remove patio cover) and got a counter with a lower price back from the bank. We submitted the sales contact with no contingencies on Friday and are waiting to hear back. Now for the troubling part:

We only have 5% to put down on the new place so we are forced to use a FHA loan. In our area the FHA high loan limit expires 12/31/08 and appears it will not be renewed for 09. I also just found out from my lender that unless our purchase closes by 12/10/08 there will be a 1.75 point penalty and we still must close by 12/31. This is really bad news and losing this house is going to be a real bummer as it is the only one my wife and I have "fell in love with".

These limits expiring will drag the housing market even lower as people (like us) with great credit, and good safe jobs won't be able to get a home loan.