Ben Chuanlong Du's Blog

It is never too late to learn.

Tips on Housing

Things on this page are fragmentary and immature notes/thoughts of the author. Please read with your own judgement!

Rent an Apartment

Fees

Utilities

  1. Which utilities are included in the rent? Water, electric, trash, etc.

  2. administration fee, application fee? I hate these fees.

  3. Facing which direction?

  4. South is probably the best, especially the sun room

  5. Internet

    • everyone claims their internet speed is fast
    • TV cable is usually faster than phone cable
    • ask for the name of internet supplier
    • Century Link is very bad, slow, limited services
    • Time Warner Cable is bad

Facilities

  • Garage (In states where the winter is long and fierce, it is better get a garage.)

  • Laundry (Some apartments do not have a laundry room which is not convenient.)

  • Gym

  • Trash (get clear about where the trash can is and how to dispose trash)

  • sink (make sure it works, try it!, some sink might be clogged)

  • disposal (make sure there is disposal in the kitchen, some kitchen especially in cities don't have one)

Appliances

  • microwave

  • Floor

    • Generally higher floor is more quiet
    • higher floor is safer (security, flood, etc) and ususally cleaner (less bugs, etc.)

Safety

  1. Gated Community or Not

    • Gated is safer though not convenient for driving

Furnitures

  1. Coffee table, some can adjust height and convenient to put a laptop on it when watching TV

Location

Quiet or Not

  • too close to noisy road?

  • too close to airport?

  • too close to a pulic facility?

  • big apartment? smaller is usually more quiet

  • higher level is usually more quiet

  • Is the house in or close to woods? If so, there might be many bugs especially in southern states.

  • If a house/apartment is too close to a highway/subway, it might be too noisy. From my experience, two blocks (vertical distance) from the subway is acceptable.

  • Close to restaurant, shoppings, gym or not

  • How old is the apartment?

Housing

  1. whether it is a new house or not and facilitaties

  2. radiation, etc., whether it is close to any high vol electric wires

  3. whether it is close to a busy road, better not, if so, any stop signs

  4. Safe or not, neighbours, etc.

Misc

  1. Never flush things except water down the sink. If you really have to flush things, use the toilet to flush it.

Shopping for Housing

Good Shopping Sites

Human Ergonomics

  • Seat Cushion

    • https://www.amazon.com/massage-seat-cushion/s?k=massage+seat+cushion

    • https://www.amazon.com/Seat-Cushion-Pillow-Office-Chair/dp/B07HD8B9SP?th=1

    • https://www.bestproductsreviews.com/butt-cushion?targetid=dsa-437115340933&matchtype=&device=c&campaignid=13697721320&creative=530350157976&adgroupid=132788019068&feeditemid=&loc_physical_ms=9033255&loc_interest_ms=&network=g&devicemodel=&placement=&keyword=$&target=&aceid=&adposition=&trackid=us_all_top_1_1&mId=407-132-4411&trackOld=true&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1tGUBhDXARIsAIJx01nWEMfZIYEZtIw0TXaHO5FEaPmVXiQqDfbk_YH47SRZLnanGjcOzMkaApuiEALw_wcB

Electronical

  • Backup Battery

    • https://generark.com/products/homepower2?variant=40210280808639

    • https://generark.com/products/homepower-one?currency=USD&variant=40698021281983&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjws8yUBhA1EiwAi_tpEa-AzzgC7m0ocrDpVZtxNP3mvhAHnx41iuCwhPCI1YzS_D8at6ebWhoCwRQQAvD_BwE

  • 暗盒修复器

Pest & Animal Control

  • https://www.amazon.com/EcoClear-Products-620101-All-Natural-Non-Toxic/dp/B00RU6YHJW/ref=sr_1_22?dchild=1&keywords=rat+dehydration&qid=1626710097&sr=8-22

  • https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-704-AP-Anticoagulant-Flavor-rodenticide/dp/B07GBQKLWZ/ref=sr_1_35?dchild=1&keywords=rat+dehydration&qid=1626710097&sr=8-35

Kitchen & Bathroom

Grill

Misc

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