And is it a good decision to buy a short sale as your first home ?
The majority of states and many municipalities have grant programs for first time buyers that meet certain income guidelines. A very typical example provides a grant for 2.5% of the purchase price in the form of a second mortgage that is forgiven after you live in the home for a period of time. My city has a grant program that provides up to 6% for first time buyers. Not every lender is approved to offer these programs so you need to do some research on the programs available in your area. Some of the programs may have a different interest rate than current non-grant programs so it is important to compare both.
I have worked with many buyers of short sale homes and the transactions are not all the same. Some have closed in normal fashion, while others seem to wait forever for bank approval of the short sale. If the right home for you happens to be a short sale I won,t tell you to avoid them altogether, but make sure you are prepared for delays. If the bank takes too long your rate lock and/or lease on your current residence can expire which can cause additional headaches and expense for you. Your Realtor may be able to provide some direction based on their experience with a particular bank approving the short sale.