If your credit score seems like a great big mystery, we’re here to help you crack the code once and for all.

Potential real estate buyers who plan to apply for mortgages to finance their home purchases must have pristine credit reports … or as close as possible. Especially in today’s credit conscious environment — big banks and lenders that got burned with loosey-goosey credit restrictions from a few years ago can’t afford to make the same mistakes twice.

Literally.

The first step to a great credit score is understanding your credit report.

The June 2011 edition of Foreclosure.com’s free educational newsletter, “Investment Exchange,” is now available, which teaches you how to understand your credit report and your credit score and, more importantly, what to do if you don’t like what you see.

Repairing damaged credit isn’t impossible. It doesn’t even have to be difficult or complicated, as long as you have the right tools and the right education.

Learn easy-to-implement tips for boosting your credit, where to get free credit advice, how to put your best foot forward when applying for a mortgage and much more.

To read this month’s free educational newsletter from Foreclosure.com CLICK HERE.

Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

But in the case of a 45-year-old distressed homeowner from San Diego, Calif., he likely took his pending foreclosure case way too far.

He seems to have gone over a cliff, actually.

The unidentified individual apparently “created a phony court document and signed a judge’s name” to avoid foreclosure on his Mission Valley home, according to the Los Angeles Times. It appears that the name of the judge who he used was real, however, he sent the forged documents to the lender in regard to a civil suit that didn’t even exist.

Talk about poor planning.

The good news is that he struck a plea deal with the prosecutor under which he would not ask for a jail sentence more than 90 days. The bad news is that the judge who rules on the case doesn’t have to agree and can sentence him to a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Hopefully, he’s not golfing buddies with the judge whose name was forged. Eek.

Homebuyers who purchase Fannie Mae-owned homes, which are listed on its HomePath.com website, now have four additional months (until Oct. 31, 2011) to earn up to 3.5 percent back on the final sale prices to put toward closing costs.

The previous deadline was June 30, 2011.

In addition, real estate agents who sell Fannie Mae-owned homes to homebuyers — not investors — will receive $1,200 bonuses.

It’s a two-pronged strategy that is designed to “energize” the sale of homes, as well as create a sense of urgency among those who may be on the fence or waiting for the “right” time.

Joe Bettag, a Florida-based real estate broker/owner, tells the Palm Beach Post:

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If you can afford it, of course.

Home prices today in your area are likely the cheapest they have been in years. Mortgage rates, too, are hovering around all-time lows. Meanwhile, the cost to rent is around the same it has been and will likely grow year-after- year.

In fact, since 1986 it’s never been this cheap to own a house as compared to the cost of renting.

Mark Zandi with Moody’s Analytics explains the long-term benefits of owning rather than renting:

“I think the arithmetic is such that if you plan to live in your home five or more years, then you should really consider buying a single-family home in most parts of the country at this point in time. Prices have fallen so far, that single-family housing now is very, very attractive; very affordable [...] and it’s now even attractive relative to renting.”

Several buyers are still waiting for the market to hit “bottom.” Those folks might miss the boat entirely … especially if they are in financial positions and personal situations to invest in a home right now.

The fact that not more people are “jumping in” has many housing experts “puzzled,” thinking that a monumental shift in buyer behavior is underway. One theory is that younger professionals are opting to spend their money renting condominiums and apartments in expensive cities — where “homes” are virtually obsolete — until their futures are more certain.

Whatever the case may be, the fact of the matter is that there are incredible real estate deals available throughout the nation. And most of them can be found on Foreclosure.com right here.