Savvy & Sage: Day One Roundup

We had a great day in Survival yesterday for our first day of a new series: Savvy & Sage: Tips on Buying and Selling in 2009.

Thanks to our guest host, Leonard Baron, real estate professor at San Diego State University and principal of LPB Services, a real estate consulting firm, for answering so many of your great housing-related questions. Here’s a quick recap of his answers from yesterday:

• First up: How do I start investing in real estate when I don’t have much money? Is it the right time to buy?
• How worried should I be about falling rents?
• How much more will prices fall?
• Is buying a fixer-upper worth the discount?
• How to answer the rent vs. own question.
• What’s better? Investing in the stock market or in real estate?

• Figuring out rental property taxes.
• Do I really need to own property?

Watch for more installments in the series in the coming weeks. Let me know if you have ideas for future guest hosts you’d like to hear from.

— KELLY BENNETT