if you're looking for free leads, go ahead on zillow and call for sale by owners.

Considering this is such an expensive repair, if you get any push-back, I would let them know this will end up in collections if not paid.  

Then your housing problem will still be solved and you'll already know ahead of time the expense of leaving this apartment earlier due to buying your own place.PS..... just remember that a realtor advising you to buy a house is like a supermarket giving you diet tips.

Anyway, I thought about looking into doing a cash-out refinance to go ahead and tap some of that equity while keeping the rent checks coming (I'm probably also going to look into a property manager, but that's a different discussion). 

Trust me, I’m looking ahead to play the long game.

So i would like to have all my resources ahead of time before anything.

I've learned I need to be in the middle, to get ahead of some issues before finding out about them in the end.

This is ostensibly due to Fair Housing concerns, but at least in Bright's case its more likely about control.Not saying you should narc on the guy, but if you wanted to push the issue and get some sort of response then thats an angle to take.

Real estate is a great investment tool to get ahead and set yourself up for a great retirement.

Keep pushing and keep us posted]