Q DEAR BOB: About four years ago, my wife and I bought a three- bedroom house for our son to occupy while he was attending college. He always had three or four tenants living in the house with him and paying rent. Although he was 18 at the time, it was a great learning experience for him to become a landlord. On top of the mortgage, insurance, property taxes and other expenses, he managed to clear $700 to $1,200 per month. Meanwhile, the house rose in market value by at least $150,000. We're almost sorry to see him graduate and move on to a job out of town as an accountant. Can we claim that $250,000 principal-residence-sale tax exemption even though title was in our names and we didn't occupy the house, but our son did? - - Ned W.

DEAR BOB: My best friend is a single mom who is trying to straighten out her financial life after a divorce. She has a great job, but her FICO credit score is about 615 and she has little money for a down payment on a condo or small house. She is wasting $1,600 per month rent on a tiny apartment in a bad area. A mortgage lender will give her a 100 percent mortgage if she can find a co-signer with good credit. That would me. My FICO score is 740. She has a bad temper, however, and I am worried she might lose her great job if she loses her temper at work. Do you think I should co-sign? -- Josie W.

DEAR BOB: Thank you for your answer to another reader about limiting the number of rentals in a condominium building. I am on the board of directors of our condo homeowners association. We are confronting the situation of too many renters. Of our 44 units, we now have 19 rental units. Buyers are having trouble obtaining mortgages except at higher-than-market rates because we have so many rentals. The board hired a local condo attorney who drafted proposed conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&R) amendment to abolish rentals. It must obtain approval by a majority of members, according to our rules. The attorney has billed us $3,700 so far. Don't you think this is excessive, although she attended several meetings to explain the amendment? -- Jose K.