The Credit Consequences of a Short Sale
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The credit consequences of a short sale and foreclosure vary slightly. The general consensus is that a short sale will show up on your credit report as a ”settlement”, “settlement for less than owed” or a "pre-foreclosure in redemption". Also, since most lenders will not consider allowing a short sale until a few payments have actually been missed you may also have a few “lates” on your credit report. Neither of these marks is a good thing to have but it’s possible to get them off of your credit report within a few years or less. A short sale can drop your credit score by 80-100 points. There is also the possibility that through negotiation with the lender you can avoid having the short sale reported to a credit agency.

A foreclosure on your credit report can take 7-10 years to remove and can cost your credit rating (FICO) up to 200-280 points which is a very big hit.

So, if you have no better alternatives, pursue a short sale aggressively and avoid foreclosure.

In addition in today's mortgage market you may only be 2-3 years away from getting a new FHA loan as you begin to reestablish your finances.