Renting homes and apartments comes with a lot of ups and downs.
I loved renting for a while because it required no lawn maintenance of any kind, and I knew that any issues with the unit would be fixed without me spending a single penny.
Unfortunately, I learned quickly that often these problems go ignored by the property manager after you report an issue. In some cases that meant dealing with a faulty air conditioner for over a week in the middle of the summer. I absolutely hated being at the mercy of the property management office and their borderline-illegal practices. When I moved into a rental home that was rented directly from the owner, I got it in my head that somehow I would have a better experience this time around. Instead, I got stuck having to deal with more responsibilities on my own. For instance, the owner put a clause in the contract saying that I was responsible for all plumbing repairs. I learned later that it was from their understanding of the home’s faulty plumbing and their complicit desire to cover it up. When I moved out, I had to call a commercial cleaning company to help me with tile grout cleaning. We had been living in that house for years and the tile grout from each room to the next had serious staining that we failed to remove ourselves. I tried cleaning the grout with diluted bleach and a mop, but I couldn’t get the color to fade. The commercial floor cleaning company that we hired did a fantastic job cleaning the grout and got the job finished in under an hour. It was amazing to see how clean the tile grout looked after the floor cleaners were ready to leave.