Michael Murphy at MarketWatch.com lays out the compelling, and concise, case (bullets have been shortened):

1. Desperate sellers. Not the homeowners, of course. It’s the banks that financed the mortgages that are desperate…. That gives the few buyers out there big leverage.
2. Little competition. … those investors willing to be patient and do the work will reap big rewards down the road.
3. Low financing rates. … getting 4-to-1 to 32-to-1 leverage at a low fixed rate of interest is like having someone give you money … rates for 30-year fixed mortgages are an incredible 4.5%. That’s the lowest in 39 years….

To drive his point home, Murphy correctly points out that the real estate summer sales season is almost over. Most house hunters prefer to get settled before school starts and certainly before the holiday season begins to heat up.

Indeed, the time between Labor Day (Sept. 6, 2010) and New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, 2011) is the perfect time to “seriously consider making a low-ball bid on a distressed situation.”

Get a headstart today with a seven-day trial to search Foreclosure.com for the best deals in you’re area — it’s FREE! Click here.

It all depends on your individual situation, according to this report from ABC15.com:

Ron Artest can thank his real estate agent, not his psychiatrist, for pulling off this latest feat.

“Tru Warrior” recently closed a deal on his $1.85 million Sacramento, Calif.,-area home, unloading it to a local businessman, Paul J. Bianchi, for $1 million in a short sale transaction.

With Artest now playing small forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, the home (to check out a pic click here), which he purchased in 2006 while playing for the Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA), was no longer necessary.

But with the collapse of the housing market, it also became nearly impossible to re-sell with such a large price tag.

So the lender accepted a lower offer on what it was owed and, more than likely, will forgive the nearly half-million dollar difference.

That’s good news for Artest, who agreed to what many experts believe to be a low three-year (with an option for five) $18 million contract (full value is about $34 million if he opts for the extension) with the Lakers just last year with the hopes of winning a world title.

Mission accomplished — Artest was a major contributor in the Lakers second straight NBA championship in 2010.

His electric performance in the pivotal Game 7 against the Boston Celtics helped lead the team to victory.  It was his first time he hoisted the trophy in his enigmatic and volatile 11-year professional basketball career.

Learn how to properly prepare and close successful short sale offers in record time with help and direction from investing pro, Sharon Restrepo.

Sharon will demonstrate how you can put the “short” back in short sale, leveraging the recently-introduced Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, which provides incentives for lenders to close these types of deals fast.

Register for “Short Sale Intensive Training” before it’s too late. Click here. The educational session is available to watch LIVE online during an information-packed presentation scheduled for Thursday, May 13, at 7 p.m. ET.

Here are just some of the many invaluable nuggets you will take away:

• How to make more money on short sale transactions
• How to put together the best short sale package
• When to avoid a short sale
• How to short sale as an investor or agent
• What banks are looking for when short selling

Expect more short sales (and great deals) to flood the market now and well into the future. So you need to know exactly what you’re getting into with short sales today and how to purchase them for pennies on the dollar as soon as tomorrow!

Register for “Short Sale Intensive Training” before it’s too late. Spots are limited and filling up FAST! CLICK HERE.

Webinars are LIVE educational sessions that let participants see, hear and interact with real estate experts right from their personal computer screens. In fact, Webinars are driven in part by visitor feedback and questions that are posed during the sessions. For more information and course offerings click here.

CNNMoney.com passes along some great information via Fair Isaac, which is the brains behind the all-important FICO scores.

Here’s a breakdown of how being late on your mortgage, or not paying it altogether, impacts your credit score (in negative points):

• 30 days late: 40 to 110 points
• 90 days late: 70 to 135 points
• Foreclosure, short sale or deed-in-lieu: 85 to 160 points
• Bankruptcy: 130 to 240 points

For all the calculations and hypothetical number-crunching that went in to arriving at the numbers above we suggest that you check out the original article right here.

However, keep in mind that no two borrowers are alike — the same delinquencies can and do affect credit scores differently.

Maxine Sweet from Experian explains:

“If you picture someone who has just one mortgage and one other credit account versus a mature credit user like me with 15 accounts, if they miss one payment that would impact their scores a lot more. For me, one missed payment would just be a blip.”

The moral of the entire article is to “cut your losses quickly” and to “not worry about your credit score.”

Easier said than done, but perhaps words of wisdom when facing a seemingly insurmountable financial crisis.

For more information on this topic and more remember to check out the Foreclosure.com Credit Center right here.