There is no general legal impediment to selling property short then buying other property or even the same  property again later. Here are  factors to consider:1) A short sale will still hurt your credit--though not as much as a default, foreclosure, or bankruptcy--because it's still not paying a debt in full. This will impact your ability to borrow and the rate and terms you get later.2) If the bank does not approve the short sale, they can sue you for the remaining balance of the mortgage.3) If you sell the property to person A, then buy it back later from person A, then--assuming you got bank approval, which means the bank essentially wrote off part of the debt--you will be under scrutiny to see if the series of transactions was not at arms length and was intended to defraud the bank.