Right now, during the winter months, according to National Association of Realtors® President, Ron Phipps.

He elaborates in a recent press release:

“Traditionally there are far fewer buyers competing for properties at this time of the year, so serious buyers have a lot of opportunities during the winter months. Buyers will enjoy favorable affordability conditions into the new year, although mortgage rates are expected to gradually rise as 2011 progresses.”

Translation: If you’re serious about buying, the time to do it is now … before New Year resolutions, as well as higher interest rates, begin to kick in.

To search foreclosed homes for sale in your area, including short sales and other distressed real estate deals, click here. You can expect to save 10 to 15 percent at a minimum and up to 50 to 60 percent!

Hurry … the best deals don’t last very long. At all.

Stubborn distressed homeowners. Possible legal wrangling. Skeptical secondary post-flip buyers.

These are now all major concerns for cash-laden real estate investors who were snatching up foreclosed homes from banks, renovating and then re-selling them for profits several weeks later, according to CNN.com.

What happened?

Several major banks recently put the “freeze” on foreclosure sales to investigate improper “robo-signed” paperwork. There were legitimate concerns that homeowners were evicted carelessly and perhaps even fraudulently in assembly line-like fashion.

The good news is that the banks have began correcting their mistakes, which were overall relatively minor. The bad news is that it has freaked out investors, which were propping up an unstable housing market, and in the process, rehabbing community eyesores.

This about sums up the situation:

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… according to John Taylor, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, who tells CNBC.com:

“Foreclosures are the mortal enemy to economic recovery. We can keep on pumping money into the system to create liquidity for banks and in the market, but it’s simply not going to succeed until they plug the hole at the bottom of the well!… If we do not respond to the foreclosure crisis now, we can guarantee the pain that will be felt by most of the people in this country. Families facing foreclosure don’t want a handout, they just want reasonable help. In fact, most of the people that got bad loans, perhaps 90 percent of them, are still paying on that sub-prime loan. Some of them have just simply fallen behind…. If we don’t do restructure their loans and keep people in their homes, property values will drop and everyone will be impacted who owns a home. We need to share the pain now, because otherwise it will affect us more broadly…. The federal government must mandate that the private sector modify certain loans such that they match the borrowers ability-to-pay. Voluntary compliance simply has not and will not work. These new loans should match the incomes of the borrowers so that a responsible borrower has a sustainable loan. Those who have lost their jobs should be given a reasonable period to find suitable employment, and if unsuccessful, have the time to pursue other housing options.”

Does Taylor present a realistic solution to the foreclosure crisis, which he says could balloon to 11 million bank repossessions if the economy continues on its current trajectory, or is it too “pie in the sky?”

To read his entire case for overhauling the current system click here.

Buying Fannie Mae-owned homes just got easier.

The largest mortgage buyer/backer in the nation recently rolled out HomePath Online Offers, which gives real estate agents the power to submit bids on behalf of clients who are interested in buying foreclosed — also known as Real Estate-Owned (REO) — homes.

Buyers/investors in Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Calif., and Detroit, Mich., will be the first to test out the new program.

Jim Tiegen, Vice President of Fannie Mae’s REO regional offices, had this to say to DSNews.com about the innovation:

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