Ever since Congress finally moved to provide financial assistance to homeowners struggling to pay their monthly mortgages, I’ve heard nothing but whining, mostly from folks who aren’t having any troubles making their own housing payments.

Every bad real estate market has a silver lining. In today’s sluggish housing market, that silver lining isn’t even hard to find: If you’re looking to buy a home, now’s a great time to do so.

Pres. Bush signed the housing stimulus billinto law yesterday. Let’s hope it provides some hope the millions of U.S. homeowners facing foreclosure.

According to RealtyTrac, a national provider of foreclosed properties, one in every 171 households received a foreclosure notice in the second quarter of this year. That’s an increase of 121 percent compared to the same quarter one year earlier.