Real estate flippers and other speculators have been flogged badly in recent months for being partly responsible for the quick run-up in prices during the boom years and now for the smoldering ruins they left behind. And deservedly so. They managed to do most of the damage in four states, namely Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, or MBA, reports that Nevada sits on top of the list of most home loan defaults for investors in the prime and subprime mortgage segments. Its data shows that through the end of June 32% of the prime mortgage defaults in the state were in investor properties, which is one third of them all. That's a lot. Arizona placed second with 26%. And in the subprime sector Nevada's default rate is 24% and Arizona's 18%.

When the times were good these speculators were swarming all over the state, although mostly in Southern Nevada, and drove up prices relentlessly. Home builders were in on the fun by turning up inventory in record numbers. This lasted for a while, but eventually the over-supply settled in for everyone to see and prices began weakening. The speculators who had entered the game late were quickly in trouble and many just decided to get out of town as fast as they could and left their mortgages behind.

A large block of these defaults are in the high-rise condo market, says USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate. I can see that, knowing that developers just three years ago couldn't sell condos still on the drawing board to hungry speculators fast enough. They were taking deposits on non-existing buildings, mind you. The activity was frenzied then. And you could just sense how it was going to end up later on.

The sorry situation, however, has created today a host of opportunities for home buyers and prudent investors. Almost 50% of the entire stock of listings in the MLS now consists of vacant speculator properties. Some are bank repos and some still in good standing. They are there for the picking, with the owners willing to negotiate and offering nice incentives. If you are trying to time the market, experts agree that it's impossible to do. In real estate, in stocks, in anything. So, take advantage of an opportunity of the decade, maybe half a century, and grab a bargain.