You'd be hard pressed to find an owner with half a brain that isn't glad they hung on. 

@Charles Press Welcome.

I had no money, not even a job (college rocked)Oh well, I pressed forward.

However, while I know nothing about south of the river, north you will be hard pressed to find something worth buying for 120k.  

I'm glad that you were able to recover and press forward.

Having gone through the short sale motions a few times we found this odd and pressed the agent to get more information.

And over the long term, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a market that performs as well as the one you are in now.

He has completed other projects that we have partnered on which doesn't get press.

Also, press the Vote button on useful info that will help others. 

Keeping in mind that most FHA borrowers are using the program because they have minimal funds of their own, yes, most need that seller assistance.I have done FHA loans for the past 10 years and I'm hard pressed to remember even one borrower who did not use some seller assistance, even back when it was a seller's market.But unless your home won't appraise for enough, you shouldn't lose anything on the transaction because you build the concession into the price - as already stated here.