Blog
2026-02-10: Got to tour both of my top houses today! The realtor had time to do both. While neither one was perfect by any means (and my budget absolutely cannot afford perfection, they would serve me just fine. My initial #1 pick is a bit more move-in ready, while my #2 needs a few repairs and a deep cleaning first. A mother and high school-age daughter are looking at both of these houses too, so we shall see how things shake out.
So now we wait for the background check to clear and for the homeowners to make a decision about their preferred tenant. Both of these are brokered and managed by the real estate firm on the owner's behalf, so it's kind of a halfway point between a private landlord and the sort of centralized management you'd see in an apartment.
I could see either of these places feeling like home once I get settled, so I look forward to something hopefully working out favorably!
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2026-02-09: First house tour today! It's my third-favorite option. It's a bit smaller than the other two, and they want a larger deposit than I'd like. It's also a bit dated inside. However, it looks like it is well-maintained and the owners have been very easy to stay in contact with. It also looks like they maintain a managable set of properties in town, so hopefully they'd be pretty easy to work with to get stuff fixed. It's also pretty close to work, compared to the others on the list. In the very least, it'd be a good option if my preferred spot doesn't work out.
Before this water leak cropped up again and forced me to expedite the new-home search a little earlier than expected, I ordered a new keyboard (which I am using right now to write this.) It's a Cherry Stream, which is a membrane/mechanical hybrid low profile keyboard. I was previously using a Corsair gaming keyboard that required two USB ports, one for i/o and the other for power, and it was weirdly spotty about turning on. Sometimes it wouldn't kick on until after the BIOS slash screen, or required a restart to work.
This is definitely not a gaming keyboard, but it works great for my needs. I don't play any competitive games where I need super responsive peripherals. The action feels really nice, it's lots quieter with less key travel so it's not as tiring for my wrists, and it doesn't have obnoxiously bright lights. I am so not a fan of bright RGB lights on peripherals.
I bought a keyboard-mouse combo. The mouse is not quite as nice as the Corsair one in terms of DPI and polling rate, but I was able to play Counter Strike and Insurgency with it just fine. It looks a bit hitchy and not as smooth, but it'll be fine. If it really bugs me, I can just put the mouse away and get the Corsair one back out. This one is a nice weight and size though and feels great for daily office use.
Oh! Also, the plumber appointment was a bit inconclusive. Like a lot of issues in this townhouse, it looks like it may be an ongoing problem because someone did things kinda weird and wrong from the outset. The upstairs toilet flange is weirdly low and they found water over the top of it when they uprooted the toilet. So, when it flushes, some water overruns the plumbing and runs down the walls to the half-bath downstairs. They re-seated it and said they'd need to come back and rip the first floor bathroom ceiling out to investigate from underneath. Here's hoping I'm long gone before that happens.
One of my coworkers just bought a house and has recommended his realtor if I decide to buy in the not-too-distant future. Apparently they made the process so much easier to walk through. I may also be in touch with them, since I am navigating house rentals through property management companies, one of which may be tied to their real estate office. I also discovered that I am distantly related to a realtor who's part of the realty team that manages the houses I like the most. Small world! It's one of those "your grandparents know how you're related but you'd never in a million years recognize them in public" kind of things.
Here's hoping for a good week, and for some clarity on what the future holds.
End of the day update!
That first house tour went rather well. It is still firmly my third option. Place was in good enough shape and I had a great first impression from management, but it's a little smaller than I'd like, the detached garage is a little cramped and doesn't have an automatic door, and it had a couple other small annoyances that keeps it from moving up the list. However, as a fallback option, it would be perfectly fine. It helps to know that their maintenance crew is quick and does good work.
Shortly afterward, I got an email from the agency that manages the two I like the most! I have one tour scheduled for tomorrow, and we will plan another if I want to look at my #2 pick.
I had more of a spring in my step after that first tour than I've had in months. I have wanted out of my current place for years and it's exciting to see that coming to fruition.
An after-dark tour of my top three picks' neighhborhoods also went well. All felt reasonably safe and normal. I didn't get that feeling that I wasn't supposed to be there or anything. No weird, sketchy nonsense.
I should have a clearer picture of things by the end of the week! Wahoo!
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2026-02-08: The cat had to finally be let out of the bag with my landlord regarding my looking for another place. Applications required them being contacted to verify our lease agreement details, to make sure I am being forthright in the app. Like magic, they've suddenly shown an interest in addressing the water leak issues from July now that I am moving out. Real classy stuff there.
On the plus side, there are a couple places I really like within my budget. I am looking at the third-place choice on Monday, and waiting to hear back about looking at my top 2. Here's hoping my next home feels more like home than this has. I've reached the point where coming home just kinda makes me angry, knowing that the disrepair I have lived in isn't going to get taken care of. I am ready to close this chapter. Wherever I end up will surely have some annoyances and bespoke issues, but for my health and sanity, it should be better than a lateral move.
My top two picks have attached garages! That has been a big asiprational thing for me.
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2026-02-05: Headache carried over into today. It's gotta be stress-induced. This ongoing saga with my landlord not taking care of stuff has been stressing me out enough to get me physically sick. I'm taking some steps to go look at a handful of rentals in my area this next week, with the goal of moving by the end of the month.
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2026-02-04: Migraines suck. I'm on the mend though. Still, what a headache!
Also, this site recently eclipsed 25,000 views. Which is kinda surreal to me. I'm sure a decent-sized fraction of those views was from me checking to make sure site changes worked as intended. But still, a cool milestone! I expected my view count to maybe creep over the triple-digits at most.
Shortly after writing the above, I had a couple friends over to use my shower. The water supply in their area is messed up after last week's winter storms, and they're dealing with super low water pressure and mandatory outages until it gets resolved. Gave them the green light to come by in the evenings until that gets resolved.
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2026-02-01:
