Could you go month by month for a few months without signing the lease while you are looking for something else? I did it once years ago and was able to find a better place in a few months of being on being month by month, not a lease.

I understand you live in expensive area but even in expensive areas there are options. Since you work from home perhaps you can live further out and maybe you don’t need two bedrooms or a large place.

You said this landlord is a slumlord so it’s fair to assume that this property might not even be in the best of shapes. How does he even justify charging more? And he gives you no time to decide or make plans.