You're listening to life kit from NPR.
What makes your house a home?
Is it defined by the love of friends or family, the exit wall in the living room and your carefully selected decorative throw pillows?
Is it lots of natural light or pets or plants?
Or all your favorite food in the fridge?
Perhaps there are an endless number of ways to make the place you lay your head feel like yours.
But for some 114 million of us, home is a place owned by someone else, and that can make things tricky, to say the least.
In many markets, substandard housing is all that a vulnerable tenant will be able to afford.
To be a renter in the residential space is to be an inherent underdog.
The playing field is lopsided, terrible, and.
The problem here isnt just a financial one.
Theres also an inherent power imbalance when it comes to renting.
It can be terrifying to challenge the person who owns the roof over your head.
At the end of it, people are really worried about where theyre going to live.
The stakes are really different.
That cant be downplayed.
And even if you are willing to speak up, knowing the right thing to say or do can be tough.
But don't let that scare you.
No tenant is alone.
No tenant should let fear win them over in terms of making decisions around their housing.