Baby Boomers concerned that retirement home bargains are disappearing need have no fear.  There are - and will continue to be - many areas of the country where nice retirement homes can be purchased at a significant discount, including sunshine states like Florida and California.

Based on my research, I expect this year to see additional waves of foreclosures and home price reductions in many pockets hard hit by the economy.  Some areas, like Las Vegas, are even undervalued at the present.  Other markets may bottom out, but you will rarely see price increases in 2010.

What are the areas to investigate?  Here are some of my personal favorites:

• Condos in San Diego County, CA (some real bargains here that are scooting under the radar)
• All of Riverside County, CA (houses, condos and manufactured housing)
• Tucson and Phoenix, AZ (lot of empty homes and McMansions)
• Las Vegas (in the burbs)
• Just about anywhere in Florida (especially for condos!)

Some advice - stay away from short sales UNLESS you are working with an expert Realtor and the property has already been pre-approved by the lender(s) who is (are) taking it in the shorts.  Watch out for liens on short-sale properties that may become your responsibility!  Bank-owned properties that being marketed by a Realtor, on the other hand, can be outstanding buys.  Thinking about buying a foreclosure?  Well, be prepared to pay all cash and then go through several rounds before you win a bid.  And even then, you get the property "as is," so be sure to have a professional inspection before placing a bid. 

Also, loans are hard to get these days, so clean up your credit and talk to a mortgage professional about qualifying ratios before doing anything. 

Let's face it - Fate has crapped on the retirement savings of Baby Boomers, but there are still abundant opportunities to retire in a nice place if you make lemonade out of lemons.