Current Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines are that you cannot have such a loan for 5 years from the discharge date. Those are the current guidelines, as revised somewhat recently. They may be revised again, or maybe that's what they will always be. A conventional, confirming loan is one that can be sold to either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Hard money lenders can do whatever they want. They aren't planning to sell to Fannie/Freddie.
Sellers offering seller carrybacks can do whatever they want. The seller is acting as the bank, and sets the terms that suit them.
Bottom line, while the most affordable loan programs may be closed to you for quite some time, there are alternative loan programs (with significantly higher loan costs) that will be available to you, nearly immediately. - Wed Jun 24 2009, 18:54