Are you one of the forever renters? More than a third of people in the United States rent instead of own their home, that's according to the census, the number is even higher for people of color, but the number of people who say they'll never buy is rising and fast. One in four

millennials say forget about buying a house forever and the Wall Street Journal

says that even high-income earners are starting to choose renting

over buying that first house. So renting does come with freedom but also some

problems absent landlords bait-and-switch apartments figuring out whether hanging that heavy mirror on the wall

is worth the headache later.

I just had this problem, actually tore the paint right off the inside of the closet.

Well, thanks sawdust for Mercury Stardust, a professional home maintenance technician

and the social media star known as the Trans Handy-Mam. On TikTok, she helps her 2.5 million

followers through all the DIY tasks of rental repairs,

how to make an apartment a home, and if you're not on Tic-Toc, you're still in luck because Mercury

is out with the new book,

safe and sound, a renter-friendly guide to home repair.

And even if you don't rent, Mercury says,

DIY home repair is intersectional.

Mercury joins us after the break to talk about her book and share tips and tricks for making

your rental feel like home.

I'm Todd Zwillick in for Jen White.

You're listening to the 1A Podcast podcast where we get to the heart of the story. Stay with us. We've got a lot to share. Mercury, welcome to 1A. Hey there, hi, thank you for having me.

Great to have you. And Mercury, why renters, handy ma'am? All those home

improvement shows they seem to think that homeowners are where the

effort and frankly the money are you've taken on a different project here yeah

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