KnowYard Community

My commute used to be 1.5 hours round trip. That's 7.5 hours a week, 30 hours a month, sitting in traffic producing nothing. Remote work gave me a whole day back every month.

Pressure washing. You can get a decent setup for $400. Driveways, fences, patios. Post on Nextdoor and you'll be booked within a week. $100-200 per driveway.

Ring Alarm Pro with the cameras. If you're already in the Ring ecosystem it just works. $20/month for monitoring and cloud storage for all cameras. The integration is the selling point.

I negotiated mine down $150 by showing them comparable units on Zillow that were cheaper. They'd rather keep a paying tenant than turn the unit. It's worth trying.

Whatever you pick, the yard sign and window stickers matter almost as much as the actual system. Most burglars are opportunistic and will skip a house with visible security signs.

Our neighborhood pooled money for extra private security patrol one night a week. Break-ins dropped significantly. It's not cheap but it works.

The companies forcing return-to-office are just trying to justify their lease costs. It's not about productivity and everyone knows it.

Fully remote jobs are getting more competitive. 500+ applicants for every decent remote posting. Be prepared to apply to 50+ positions. It took me 3 months to find my current role.

I'm remote and I love it but I'll be honest — the isolation is real. I go days without talking to another adult in person. Make sure you have a plan for that.

Nobody benefits. Shoplifting goes up, stores lock everything, customers leave, stores close, and the neighborhood loses access to basic retail. It's a death spiral.

Show up to HOA board meetings. Seriously. Most boards are 3-5 retired people with nothing better to do. You show up with 5 neighbors who are also sick of it and you can vote them out.

Furniture flipping. Grab free stuff off Facebook Marketplace, clean it up or do minor repairs, resell. A truck is your biggest advantage. I clear $500-800/month doing this on weekends.

Motion sensor lights on the driveway made a difference for us. Not a guarantee but they don't like being lit up.

If you have a kid and the indoor temp is dangerous, call 311 and explain the situation. Some cities have emergency housing resources or can expedite code enforcement.

Left my hybrid job for a fully remote one. Took a small pay cut but the savings on gas, parking, lunch, and wardrobe made it net positive. Zero regrets.

Document everything in writing. Every call, every text, every email. Take photos of the thermostat showing the indoor temp. This is your evidence if it goes to court.

SimpliSafe. No contract, $17/month monitoring, easy DIY install. Had it 3 years and it's triggered twice from actual incidents — both times the monitoring center called within 30 seconds. Would buy again.

$200/month HOA and they can't even maintain the common areas? Request a financial audit. You're entitled to see where that money goes.

Never, ever leave a gun in your car overnight. I know Texas loves truck guns but an unsecured firearm in an unlocked vehicle is just a free gun for criminals.

I fought a similar violation. Sent a written response requesting the specific bylaw and photos of other houses in violation. They dropped it. They count on people just complying without question.

Transplant here. I said "where's the nightlife" my first week. Then I found Deep Ellum. I now go out more than I did in Chicago.

Call your city's code compliance. An apartment without AC in July may violate habitability codes. The city inspector showing up lights a fire under landlords real fast.

I found a garage apartment behind someone's house for $950/month. Private entrance, quiet street, great neighborhood. Wouldn't have found it on any apartment website.

This is why I specifically bought a house with no HOA even though it meant a longer commute. My trash can sits wherever I want and nobody sends me letters about it.

The hard truth is that unless someone is caught in the act, police don't have the resources to investigate car break-ins. Prevention is all you've got.