I don't file a long form and sold our home. We received a check for $54,000 at closing. Can I still file a short form or do I have to do the long form?

There is no more long and short 1040 form.  Everyone files a full 1040.  Or what do you mean?  Like the Turbo Tax version?

Since 2017 returns there has been no such thing as a "short" or "long" tax form.  Maybe you did not notice that last year.

 

.https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4511011-what-happened-to-the-1040a-and-1040ez

 

It sounds like your real question is about reporting the sale of your house.

 

SALE OF HOUSE

 

If your gain was more than  $250,000 filing Single, or more than $500,000 filing Married Filing Jointly the sale must be reported on your tax return.  Whether you re-invested the gain in to another house is irrelevant.  If you  have a Form 1099-S go to Federal>Wages and Income>Less Common Income>Sale of Home (gain or loss)

If you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years on the date of the sale, you do not have to report the home sale if the gain is less than $250K filing Single, or less than $500K filing Married Filing Jointly (and you both owned and lived in the home for at least 2 years).

• If you are using online TT, you need Premier or Self-Employed software to report the 1099-S
• .https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901135-i-sold-my-home-at-a-loss-is-this-deductible