"I don't know how you do it."

That's the comment I heard from my friend Kristi Fojtik, 38, a single woman who has toyed with the idea of buying a condominium now that home prices have fallen back to earth and interest rates have plummeted to new lows.

Fojtik occupies a rent-controlled apartment in Los Angeles that's much too small to accommodate herself, her belongings, her beloved cats and her aspirations of entertaining more than three guests at the same time.  more...