My husband and I just moved from a more expensive rental house to a less expensive rental house. The former was built in the late 90's, early 2000's. The latter was built in 1954.

Past owners have treated this house like ($&*. I've noticed that there is a nice gridwork of cracks in the stucco around the front door and cracks that have been painted over in the bathroom and kitchen. The whole house shakes when you shut the front door. The wind does a good job of rattling it also.

I'm wondering what, if anything, I can do to reinforce this place so it doesn't fall down on our heads. I've already taken a hammer to move the sliding window panes back into place and done energy-related weatherstripping, and I plan to do some caulking around the front door and patch the holes in the stucco on the garage and side of the house (We have an absentee landlord who let the prior tenant take the appliances and the bedroom closet shelf.)

Any ideas? I'm already searching for a higher paying job so that we can 1) buy this place and fix it properly or 2) move to a better house.

Thanks!

Mary